And This Breeze Blew In
by toledo girl
Summary: Violet Harrison was sent to stay with Bob and Emily. The only problem is that they had no idea what they were getting into before they agreed to take her. They say you meet everyone for a reason though.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Caught Again

Violet stood in front of her mirror in her dump of a room. Her clothes scattered about in piles, her make up and hair accessories spilled over the top of her dresser, she was lucky that she could find her bed let alone anything that she needed. Her long dark hair framed her make up covered face. Heavy black eyeliner with mascara and the over use of blush. Right now, she was applying the bright red lipstick.

She was getting ready to head out for the night, with her tight black halter top, dark green short shorts, and black sandle wedges.

The clock read midnight. Perfect. As she stepped back and checked herself over in the mirror, she listened for any sign of her mother still being awake. Silence. She was able to go finally. She opened her window and climbed out into the night.

Ooo

There was a knock on the door at three in the morning. Nora held her robe closed as she walked down the stairs and into the living room, where she turned on the lights. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light.

"Hello?" she groggily greeted, opening the door.

"I believe she belongs to you," the police officer stated.

It took Nora a second, but she eyed her daughter standing there in handcuffs with her hair messy and make up smeared. "Yes officer," she sighed. What bothered her most was that Violet didn't even look scared or disappointed. She wasn't ashamed of herself any more.

"All right," he replied. "This time I'll let her go, but next time I'll take her in. You can't keep letting this happen Mrs. Harrison."

"I know," she dryly responded. The only reason that Violet hadn't ended up in jail yet was because everyone was aware of the fact that her father had just recently ran off with some waitress. No one wanted to be the one to cause Nora any more stress than she already had to deal with. "Thank you officer for bringing her home again."

As soon as Violet was freed of the handcuffs, she rushed in past her mother and headed straight for the kitchen.

"Violet Raschelle Harrison," Nora began as she stormed after her daughter.

Violet, who stood at the sink with a glass of water, rolled her eyes. "What is it this time?" she asked, turning around to face Nora.

"I don't have to ask what you were doing anymore. I know you were at some party with people you don't know in an area you shouldn't have even been in!" Nora yelled.

"Then why the hell are you even talking to me? You know where I was at and what I was doing. I was about to drink with some guys. Big shocker!" Violet replied and then started walking towards the stairs.

"You're seventeen Violet!" Nora called to her, causing her to stop. "You're not even an adult yet and you're already throwing your life away! Don't you care?"

Violet stood there and crossed her arms. "So because I'm not a perfect little princess I'm throwing my life away?" she spat.

Nora sighed, this girl was already giving her a headache. "You cannot seriously be that stupid," she said. "You know better than this. You know that you can't be going out and drinking and doing God knows what drugs every other night. Especially with people that you don't know! Do you even know what could happen to you out there? You could end up dead!"

"I could also die from tripping on the stairs at school. What's your point?"

Nora just looked to her. This was not the same girl from a year ago. Ever since her father had left, Violet had been on a downward spiral. Her grades had dropped, she lost weight when she didn't even have much to begin with, and she had stopped caring. All she wanted to do anymore was drink and smoke. "You know what? You're right. I don't even know why I ever try talking to you anymore," she replied in defeat.

"My point exactly," Violet remarked and then started up the stairs.

"I should tell you, this is going to be our last few days in this house. I'm going to sell it and get an apartment closer to my parents in Washington," Nora announced.

Violet stopped and ran back down the stairs. "You can't do that!" she cried. "I like it here! I like living in California with my friends!"

"Well obviously you can't handle it!" Nora pointed out to her. "Besides, it'll be cheaper living there than it is living outside of Sacramento and I'll have my parents there to help out."

Violet huffed and looked off to the side. Moving, to her was the worst idea that her mother had ever had.

"Since I'll be busy moving, and getting a new job, I'm not going to be able to keep an eye on you."

"And you were doing such a good job watching me here," Violet sarcastically cut.

"Not many of our relatives are willing to have you stay over with them a second time. The first time was enough to make them sick of you, so I had to find people that hadn't watched you yet. You're going out to Chicago tomorrow to stay with my cousin Emily," Nora informed her.

Violet stood there and watched Nora. The fact that some of her relatives wanted nothing to do with her did hurt, but she wouldn't show it. "I guess Chicago doesn't sound too bad," she said.

"Just have your things packed by ten," Nora instructed.

Ooo

"Emily, I really don't want to have a teenage girl that I've never met before staying here with us for a couple of weeks," Bob complained as he watched her get the den ready to be a guest room.

"Come on Bob, she's seventeen," Emily stated as she finished making the bed. "It's not like she's going to be a little kid that we'll have to constantly watch. Besides, Nora's husband ran out on her a little while ago. It's not like I could have said no to watching her kid while she moves."

"You're cousin ran out on her. Shouldn't she be cutting off times with your family?" Bob questioned.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Violet's still my second cousin. I can't just turn her away," she explained.

Bob sighed in defeat. "I guess it won't be so bad," he said. Emily was right, it wasn't like they were watching a little kid, and it was only for a couple of weeks. He still didn't like having someone that he had never seen before staying with them though.

There was a knock at the door. "You think you can get that?" Emily requested.

"Sure," Bob responded as he turned and headed out through the living room. He opened the door to Violet. She was wearing a short, low cut spaghetti strapped black dress with the same dark make up that she had on when she was last arrested. "Honey! Come out here! Morticia Adams is at the door!" he called back to Emily.

"Oh boy, cousin Bob's got a sense of humor. Wonderful," Violet remarked. She offered her hand. "I'm Violet by the way."

"Bob," he said, accepting her hand.

Emily walked out and paused for a minute, looking over Violet. "Violet?" she implored, just making sure. The last time she had seen Violet was about ten years ago.

Violet sighed as she rolled her eyes. "I sure do hope so," she replied.

Emily continued over to the door and stood beside Bob. "I'm Emily," she introduced herself.

Violet looked to her for a moment and then smiled. "Yeah," she laughed. "I actually remember you. You were the idiot that let Grandpa in on the surprise party and ruined it for everyone."

Emily's smile faded. "Yeah, that would be me," she quietly stated.

Violet laughed and then picked her suitcases up off the ground. "You think I can come in?" she inquired.

"Yeah, uh, I'll uh, I'll show you to your room," Bob said. He turned and started leading the young girl back to the den.

Emily just watched as the walked across the room. Now, she was wishing that she had listened to Bob. Nothing bad had happened yet, but she could tell that this was about to be a long two weeks with this girl.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Violet had just gotten settled into her new room, well, her sleeping space. This clearly was not a bed room. She sat down on the pull out sofa and let out a heavy sigh. This wasn't a bad place, but she felt like she shouldn't have to be here. Her mom just wanted to get rid of her for a while. That was always the reason. There was never a time where she really could not have stayed home and taken care of herself.

Already bored, Violet looked over to her bag. There was something in there that she had intended to do here without her mother watching her. She reached over and dug through her things until she pulled out a folded up piece of cloth that she carefully laid down on the bed. She unfolded the cloth, revealing a needle and a pair of diamond earrings that she stole from her mother. There was a lighter in her purse that she grabbed and set with the other things.

Violet had a pretty good idea of what she was doing. She took everything that she needed over to the table and then grabbed her mirror and set it down in front of her. She took a seat on the ground before the coffee table and took a deep breath.

The first thing that she did was take a pen and mark the dots on her ear lobes, making sure that they were even. Next, she pulled her hair back into a pony tail to ensure that it would not get in the way. Carefully, she then picked the needle up and lit the lighter under it, attempting to sterilize it.

"Here goes nothing," she said to herself before taking a deep breath.

Ooo

Bob sat down in his spot at the table as Emily grabbed herself something to drink with dinner. "Could you go get Violet and tell her dinner's ready?" she requested.

"But if I do that she'll, she'll uh be out here, with us," he argued. "I don't know how to tell you this Emily, but uh, I've been trying to avoid that."

"Honestly Bob," Emily replied as she set her glass down on the table. "You two have barely even spoken to each other." She herself wasn't a huge fan of Violet either, but she did believe that the girl deserved a chance.

"And that's, that's all it took to know," he responded. There was some truth to that that he didn't wan to fully admit to.

"Hey, did you two have dinner already?" Howard implored as he walked in the door.

"I'm setting the table," Emily answered. "You're welcome to stay if you like," she told him, even though by now, she figured that he should know that he was welcome.

"Oh good," Howard replied as he walked over and sat down, joining Bob. "I thought I might have missed it."

"And, and wouldn't that have been a real tragedy," Bob remarked.

Emily smiled at the two. "Well, I'm going to go check on Violet and tell her dinner's ready," she announced and then went off towards the den.

"Who's Violet and why's she joining us for dinner?" Howard asked. He seemed slightly guilty, as if he should have already known.

Bob looked to Howard and leaned in closer to him. "You ever see The Exorcist?" he dryly inquired, making sure to keep his voice down so that Emily and Violet could not hear him.

"Ooh," he replied cringing. "Yeah. I hated that movie."

"Well, that girl is staying with us for a while," Bob explained to him.

Howard looked to him with disbelief. "The possessed one?" he questioned.

"Yeah. She's back in the den," he told him.

"And you just let Emily walk back there with no protection?" Howard nearly yelled. He was about ready to jump up and go back there to make sure that she was alright. He knew that it was just a movie, but the fact that the actress could change her voice like that and throw heavy objects around made him wonder.

"Howard, she uh, she was just an actress. Linda Blair wasn't, wasn't really possessed," Bob explained to him, trying to calm him down a little.

"I know that, but if a little girl can go in there and do all of that stuff you know there has to be something wrong with her," Howard argued.

Ooo

"What do you think you're doing?" Emily sternly asked, rushing over to Violet. From the doorway, she was able to see that she was sticking something through her ear.

Violet turned back to face her, the safety pin still in her ear lobe. "Oh, I'm just piercing my ears. I can do yours later if you're interested," she offered.

There was something about her all too casual approach that bothered Emily. "Take that pin out of your ear right now," Emily firmly ordered, her arms crossed.

"Oh come on, I already have the other earring in," Violet protested. She then turned back to face her mirror. "Besides, I'll just redo it later." That was the way she had been living lately, if she couldn't do it now with this person around, she would just wait for them to leave and then do whatever she wanted. She also knew that this was the very attitude that angered so many people around her.

"Don't make me rip that pin out myself," Emily threatened, standing firm. She felt weird making a threat like that, but at the same time, she felt that it was necessary. She was just hoping that she could follow through with it if the time came.

"Why does it matter? It's my ears," Violet implored as she played with the pin in her ear.

"Do you realize all the infections you can get? There is no way that you know what you're doing," Emily argued. Besides that, she didn't want to send Violet back to Nora and receive a phone call from Nora, her asking her why she wasn't watching her closely enough.

Violet sighed. "I'll clean them with alcohol twice a day."

"No you won't," Emily argued.

Violet turned back to her and smirked. This was the first time that someone was truly testing her, and for some reason, she liked it. "Really?" she questioned. "Because, I think I will," she added, knowing that she was about to push Emily over the edge.

Emily reached over and ripped the pin out of her ear causing the young girl to yelp.

"You actually did it," Violet gasped, holding on to her now sore ear lobe. After the look of shock went away, it was quickly replaced with a smile. "Well played," she said and then took out the earring and handed it to her. "You win a diamond earring."

Emily took the earring and looked it over, wondering how she even got a hold of real diamonds. By the time she looked up to ask her though, Violet had left the room.

Ooo

Violet walked out to the table with Emily not too far behind her. "Who's this?" she asked, pointing to Howard.

Howard turned and looked to her with surprise. "Is this Linda Blair?" he questioned.

Violet just nodded and then smiled to Bob. "So the funny man's got a sidekick now," she stated and then looked to Howard. "Don't worry, I'm liking you so far," she assured him and then sat down at the table.

"I don't need a sidekick," Bob informed her. "He's just here to take our food," he explained, motioning over to Howard.

"They always have extra food," Howard told her.

Emily sat down at the table. "I've learned to always make sure there's enough extra," she informed them.

Violet laughed. "So you just stroll in here everyday and get free meals?" she implored.

"I was invited," Howard answered.

"Once," Bob added.

Violet nodded in approval. "I like you," she said to Howard. She then looked over to Bob. "I'm still trying to decide about you."

"The suspense is killing me," he dryly responded.

"Don't worry Bob, I still like you," Howard assured him.

Emily sighed, she was starting to get annoyed with this conversation. "You think we could move on to something else?" she pleaded.

"I don't know. You think you could give me my safety pin back?" Violet retorted.

"The only way you're getting it back is if I put it through your lips and pin your mouth shut," Emily quipped.

Violet pointed to Emily as she turned to Bob. "I like her," she announced.

"So, so do I," Bob mentioned.

"Thank you Bob," Emily replied, smiling to him.

"Cute," Violet flatly replied, looking down to her dinner. "My boyfriend and I used to act like that, all cutesy and what not. Now we're just like two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl," she said.

"Year after uh, after year I presume," Bob replied.

Violet looked up to him and smiled. "Well played."

Howard looked between the two. "Wow, you two should write something together," he suggested in awe.

"I'll call up Roger Waters and let him know I have something," Violet said.

"Let me know how it goes," Howard instructed her. He then looked down at his watch. "I better get back. I'm expecting a phone call from Lois about Howie," he said and then stood up from his seat. "Thanks for dinner," he said before leaving.

"I'm done too. Thanks for the food," Violet said as she got up from her seat and went back towards the den.

Bob turned to Emily and sighed. "So, you still think this was a good idea?" he asked.

Emily glared to him. "Not now Bob," she hissed. "At least she likes me though."

"My patients still like me," Bob argued.

Emily laughed. "I like you," she reassured him.

"Then why did you bring her here?" he implored.

"I'm testing how much you'll put up with before you leave me," she answered.

"Keep it up," he dared as she got up and started taking things to the kitchen sink.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Adjustments

One in the morning. Violet had made a date to meet with a boy at the train station at three. They weren't going to really do anything, just talk. On the train ride on the way here, she had discovered that they had a lot in common. There was no way that she was just about to go this entire two weeks without seeing him.

Since she still had some time, she decided to go out to the kitchen and grab a snack. One thing that she had learned from sneaking out was that if you were going to go without sleep, you had to at least eat. The energy had to come from somewhere.

She made her way out of the den and through the dark living room where she felt her way though to the kitchen. It was easy once she got there, there was a light in the fridge.

All the sudden, the lights went on, causing her to stand up and look towards Bob and Emily's bedroom. "Hey. Sorry I woke you. Wanted food," Violet flatly greeted and then turned back to the fridge.

Emily yawned as she walked over and sat down at the table. "What are you doing up?" she groggily implored.

"You want anything?" Violet offered, holding an apple.

"Could you get me the crackers off the top of the fridge?" she requested.

Violet grabbed the box and carried it over to her before joining her at the table.

"Thank you."

"Now, you asked why I'm up. Ever hear of jet lag?" Violet asked before taking a bite.

"You ever try being polite?" Emily quipped as she opened the box.

"I got you the crackers didn't I?"

Emily just glared to her as she took a bite. "Nora's very patient isn't she?" she inquired.

Violet sat back and smirked to her. "You came out here because you heard me and didn't trust me didn't ya?" she questioned.

"I just woke up. That's all," Emily assured her.

"Really?" Violet asked. "Because I'm about to severely judge you for trusting me."

"I have a hard time believing that you're that bad," Emily replied. In all honesty, she felt that this was just an image that Violet was trying to uphold. She was sarcastic, and she dressed dark, why not have the persona of a troublemaker to go with it?

Violet laughed. "Rosemary's thankful that she had her son rather than having to deal with me. I'm like Rhoda from the Bad Seed, just smarter. And as I'm sure your husband pointed out to Mr. Borden, I'm Linda Blair without a cure. Those are just a few remarks that I've heard so far," she explained. She was now really starting to wonder what Nora had told this woman about her.

"You don't have to fit that description," Emily told her.

"I fit it before anyone gave it to me," Violet informed her.

Emily sighed. "Are you wanting a babysitter?" she finally offered, getting too tired to keep going on with this conversation.

"No, I just believe that you deserve a fair warning," Violet answered and then stood up from the table and headed back to the den.

Emily sat there a moment and then got up and headed back to bed. There was something about this young girl. She felt like she had to help her, but she didn't know with what yet.

ooo

It was nearing five in the morning as Violet climbed off the elevator onto the fifth floor. The entire place was quiet, making her wonder whether or not she could be heard already. As quietly as she could, she went over to the door at the end of the hall and cautiously opened it.

There was no light, which was a good sign. She sneak into the apartment and closed the door behind her. No one there. Good. She let out a sigh of relief as she started back towards the den.

"Not again," Emily moaned as she quickly made her way to the bathroom.

Violet froze for a moment, hoping that she wouldn't walk out into the living room. After a minute, she continued to the den and flipped on the light.

"Hi Bob," Violet softly greeted upon seeing him asleep in the chair. There was no lying her way out of this one.

"What?" he jumped. As soon as he remembered what he had been doing, he stood up and looked to Violet. "Where, where were you last night?" he questioned, a little frantic.

"Well I wasn't here," Violet replied as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "I was just out, near the train station."

"What could you possibly have, have been doing there? You don't even know anyone out here," he implored.

Violet thought that it was a little funny to see him get worked up, but she bit her tongue. No use in getting him more angry. "I met a boy on the way here," she casually told him. "We met on the train and decided that we were going to meet each other."

"Is he nocturnal?"

"No," Violet laughed. "We just liked the idea of meeting late at night. It sounded more fun."

"Yes, I remember when I started dating Emily I would often pick her up around two AM," he remarked.

Violet rolled her eyes. "I don't think you understand."

"No! I, I don't!" Bob replied.

"Calm down!" Violet warned, keeping her voice hushed. "You don't want o upset your pregnant wife."

"Don't change the subject!" Bob snapped. He was about to go and say more to her, but froze. His eyes widened with fear as he registered what she had said to him. "What, what was, what was that?" he nervously asked.

Violet smirked, catching onto the fact that she may have hit a sensitive spot here. All she had wanted to do was change the subject. "Please, don't tell me you haven't noticed yet," she scoffed. She watched him, scared stiff with his eyes still on her. Violet's smirk faded from her face. "You really haven't noticed anything different about her? Maybe like the fact that she just complained about throwing up AGAIN? When she's fine during the day and at night, leaving her sick in the morning. Then there was last night, she woke up just to get a box of crackers. Any of this sound familiar to you, doctor?"

"I seriously doubt that she's pregnant," Bob said, more to comfort himself than argue with Violet.

Violet held up her hands in defeat. "You're right, I could be wrong," she admitted. "I mean, I am just a young girl. My Aunt was staying with us last year when she found out that she was pregnant, you know, doing basically the same exact thing that Emily's doing right now, but you're right, I know nothing and it's all a lie. Everything's still okay in the magical world of Bob land over there."

"She would've told me if she even thought she was," Bob argued, again, more for himself.

Violet raised her eyebrows. "Well with the way you're reacting now with just a mention of a chance, she might want to wait until she's sure," she stated.

Bob just turned and started to leave the room. His mind was now elsewhere. As soon as he walked out though, he turned back into the room. "You're still in trouble!" he warned.

"Ground me," Violet instructed. "Deny me everything like you told me not to go out tonight."

Bob was about to say something, but stopped a second. "We never told you that you couldn't go out. You, you never even asked," he told her.

"I'm sure it was implied somewhere that I couldn't go out at three in the morning," she reasoned.

"Right," he said, still thinking about the fact that he might be a father. "I'll, I'll uh, I'll talk to you in the uh, the morning," he stated as he went to leave.

"Sweet dreams daddy," Violet said, causing Bob to briefly stop. "Just remember, your little angel could grow up to be like me. You might want to keep that in mind."

Bob didn't even look back to her, instead he just went ahead and went back to bed. He crawled into bed next to his wife who had already gone back to sleep. He watched her for a second, wondering if there was anything to what Violet had mentioned. Maybe? He knew that she was in trouble and wanted to distract him, but could there be more to it?

Ooo

Bob sat on the couch as he read through the paper.

"Morning," Violet grunted as she headed to the kitchen.

"It's noon," Bob corrected her.

Violet stopped and glared to him. "And I was just about to like you," she informed him.

"I'm crushed," he dryly replied.

"Bob!" Emily called out as she quickly walked out of the bedroom, carrying her purse. "There's ten dollars missing from my purse. Did you by any chance take it?"

Bob looked to her, slightly offended. "Why, why would I take money from you?" he questioned.

"I don't know Bob. It's the only option left and I felt better thinking that it was you going through my purse rather than a stranger," Emily answered.

"No it's not," Violet stated and then went back into the den. Bob and Emily exchanged looks during the brief moment that she was gone. "I snuck out last night and had no idea how much a cab would cost," she explained as she handed the money back to Emily. "I only had five, but that ended up being enough to cover it, so it's all there."

Emily stared to her, widened eyes full of surprise. She didn't know what bothered her more, the fact that Violet stole from her, or the fact that she didn't seem to care. "I don't know if Nora forgot to tell you this, but you can't just take money when ever you want!" she nearly yelled.

"Hey, you got all of it back. I personally don't see what the big deal is. Besides, I'm already grounded for sneaking out. What more do you want? A double grounding?" Violet replied.

"You stole from me! That's against the law Violet!" Emily informed her.

Howard opened the door and casually walked into the room. "So what's going on?" he implored.

"Howard, we're uh, we're sorta in the middle of something here," Bob explained to him, turning to him.

"Hey Mr. Borden," Violet greeted before Howard could ask any more questions.

"Hi Violet," he responded.

"Got any daughters?" she asked.

"Nope, just my son Howie. Why?"

"Just thought for a second that it would be really cool if you had a daughter named Lizzie. That's all," Violet explained.

"Why?" Howard inquired.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Nothing Howard. Now could you please go home and come back later?" she requested.

"But all I wanted..." Howard started.

"Bye Howard!" Bob cut him short.

Howard slightly flinched. "Fine. I'll come back," he said and then left.

Emily and Bob both looked to Violet who had started playing with her hair.

"What?" Violet asked, looking up to them.

Emily sighed. "You think you could go wait in the den for a minute?"

Violet shrugged and headed back into the den. She knew that they were going to talk about her and she knew what they were going to say. She was a bad kid, and they didn't know what to do with her. She had heard it all before.

Bob looked up to Emily, Violet's words still ringing in his head. It wasn't that he would be upset if Emily were pregnant, but he didn't want a baby now, especially after Violet's warning. He didn't want to say anything yet though. If anyone was going to bring it up, it would have to be Emily, and she should be sure of what she's saying. There was no need for excess stress right now.

"What do you think we should do?" Emily desperately implored.

"Well," Bob began, trying to keep his thoughts on Violet. "Uh, last, last night she did ground herself. And she's, she's uh not ours so maybe just tell Nora and let her decide."

Emily sighed. He was right, she wasn't technically theirs. Yes, they had to watch her for a couple of weeks, but it wasn't truly up to them to discipline her. That was up to Nora when she got back home. "We'll talk about it later. I promised Carol that I would meet her for lunch," she said as she headed for the door.

"Bye honey," Bob said, watching her as she walked.

"Bye," she replied as she headed out the door.

"You wanted to ask her didn't you?" Violet inquired, leaning against the doorway to the den.

"Did not," Bob stubbornly argued before going back to his paper.

Violet laughed. "Just let me know what I'm supposed to do for my punishment," she instructed before turning back to the den.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: In the Open

Emily sat across the table from Carol. For the most part, Emily had been pretty quiet while Carol had done most of the talking.

"Something wrong?" Carol implored.

Emily sighed. "Has Bob mentioned anything to you about ever having kids?" Her eyes desperately looked to Carol. There was an answer that she was hoping for, but she was pretty sure that she wouldn't get it.

Carol shook her head. "I'm not interested in him like that," Carol answered and then laughed at her own joke. She wasn't aware of the situation at home. Neither Bob nor Emily had told her about Emily's sick spells and midnight snacks.

"I being serious Carol," Emily stated.

"So am I," Carol assured her.

"I think I might be pregnant Carol," Emily bluntly announced. She felt that was the only way to get Carol to take this seriously.

Carol smiled with excitement and started to congratulate Emily, but noticed that she was less than enthused by the idea. "You don't want it?" she questioned. Right was aware that the couple had attempted to have a baby a few years ago. The sudden disinterest took her slightly by surprise.

"I do, but I don't think Bob does," Emily informed her. "Last week we went out to dinner and I asked him if he thought we should start trying again and he told me that he was pretty happy with how things were."

"Maybe he didn't wanna put too much pressure on you," Carol quickly suggested.

Emily slightly laughed. "No, I can tell when Bob says something just to say it. This time, he really meant it," she stated. She remembered the first time that they tried to have a baby. He told her that he was happy with how things were, but there was a certain look in his eyes, something that told her he wanted more. This time, when he said it, that look in his eyes wasn't there.

"Does he know yet?"

Emily shook her head. "I want to be sure when I tell him," she replied. "Because if he doesn't want a baby, I don't want to get him worked up over what could be a false alarm."

"Do you really think he'll get upset over it?" Carol implored with disbelief.

"I don't know," Emily admitted. "I know he won't get mad at me or anything like that. I just don't want him going through the motions and regretting having a son or daughter. I know that he'll love them, but I want him to want our baby."

"Maybe he'll come around once you tell him," Carol offered. She really wanted to believe that he would be happy about this.

"I hope so," Emily flatly responded.

Ooo

Violet sat in the den as she lit the cigarette that she held in her mouth. She sat on the edge of the bed with a glass filled with a small amount of water on the table that she had planned on using as an ash tray. She took the smoke into her lungs and then tilted her head back as she blew out the smoke. She did always like to be a little dramatic.

"Violet," Bob called as he opened the door. He just stopped and looked to her with disbelief.

Violet held the cigarette off to the side, looking to him with mock innocence. "I didn't sneak out this time," she told him.

"Why, why would you do that?" he asked.

"Why, why, why must you stutter?" Violet questioned before taking another puff.

Bob grabbed the water and dumped it over the cigarette.

Violet kept her expressionless eyes on him as she slowly reached over to her bag and grabbed a pack of cigarettes. Her other hand carelessly dropping the cigarette onto her pillow.

"I'm about to tell you two words, and, and I want you to listen very closely to them," Bob explained to her. He watched a second to see if she would let go of the pack, but didn't. "Stop it!" he sternly warned.

A smirk came across Violet's face, her eyes still glued to him as she began to open the lid.

"Don't, don't do that," Bob said and then went ahead and snatched the pack out of her hand. He had finally had it with the girl. She was constantly testing him.

"Well played," Violet replied as she stood up and headed over to the other side of the bed. "Of course, Emily would've taken them a lot sooner," she began as she took the lighter out of her pocket and put it back into the bag. She then looked up to Bob and smiled. "You know, with those maternal instincts starting to kick in."

"Why are you so insistent on, on Emily being pregnant?" Bob inquired.

"Why are you so insistent on her not being pregnant?" Violet implored. She crossed her arms as if she were daring him to lie.

"I, I just think that she would tell me if she even thought that she was pregnant," Bob answered, a little too defensively.

Violet nodded. "Ten bucks she's scheduled a doctor's appointment for this week," she offered.

Bob looked to her with suspicion. "You're on," he responded.

Ooo

The three sat together at the table for dinner. It was, different to say the least. Emily was thinking about the baby that she could possibly be carrying and wondering whether or not Bob would be happy about it. Bob was trying to think back on the past week, trying to go through all the signs that he could have missed to see whether or not Violet could be right. Violet was just waiting to see who was going to speak first.

Violet soon got tired of the quietness though. "So, where's funny man's sidekick?" she implored.

"He's not my sidekick," Bob corrected her.

Emily slightly laughed. "He's on a flight tonight," she explained.

"I see," Violet replied with a nod. After the room fell silent again, she looked between the two. "It's probably a lot more exciting where he's at isn't it?"

Violet again, did not get much response. "Alright," she sighed. "I think it's time we got this all out in the open here," she announced.

"There is nothing to get out in the open," Bob stated. He knew that she would be the one to tell Emily that he was scared and he didn't want that.

"What's going on?" Emily questioned, slightly concerned now.

"N-nothing Emily. Don't, don't worry about it. It's just something with one of my patients," he lied.

Violet smirked, looking to Bob out of the corners of her eyes. "No it's not," she argued and then looked to Emily. "I told him I thought you might be pregnant and he freaked out," she informed her.

Emily stared to her for a minute. "How did you know?" she asked. She was more worried about Bob's reaction, but she wanted to work her way there.

"You woke up in the middle of the night to eat crackers and then threw up the next morning. I thought it was pretty obvious," Violet replied.

Emily then cautiously turned her attention over to Bob. "How bad did you freak out?" she questioned.

Bob sighed. "It just, it took me by surprise," he explained. Emily wanted a baby, and he knew that. He wasn't big on the idea though. It meant that they couldn't have the life that they had gotten used to anymore. He couldn't go out to all the games anymore, they couldn't go out to dinner or anywhere just whenever they felt like it. He was happy with what they had, and that to him meant that it didn't have to change yet.

Emily nodded. That wasn't it, she knew that it wasn't. Everything that they had talked about, everything that he had said, there was no way that he could just be surprised. He didn't want a baby, she knew that. She might have missed the point sometimes, but she did know her husband and she knew that he was trying not to hurt her. "It took me by surprise too," she replied. "I'll know for sure though tomorrow. I already have an appointment set up. I go tomorrow morning."

"Well, I uh, I want you to know that uh, what ever the outcome, I'm there for you. If it's positive, I'll uh, I'll celebrate with you and if it's negative, I'm here," Bob assured her. Again, he really didn't want a baby, and he was a little scared now, but he would have to adjust anyways. Besides, this was Emily and this was something that she wanted.

"Aww," Violet said, looking to him with admiration. "That's so sweet."

Emily glanced to Violet and softly laughed before looking to Bob. It struck her as odd that Violet would think anything sweet, or even react to it like that. "Thank you," she replied, recognizing his effort.

"I hope you are pregnant, I love babies," Violet stated.

"Why? You can't sacrifice this one," Bob remarked.

"Oh I know," Violet casually began. "My cult's only allowed to sacrifice stolen gypsy babies."

Bob slowly looked up and over to Violet as she smirked to him.

"And Bob, while you're feeling supportive over there, you mind doing me a favor?" Emily implored, ignoring the last few lines between the two.

"What's that?"

"Take Violet to work with you tomorrow? I feel we have to constantly watch her and I don't want to leave her here while I go to the doctor's," Emily informed him.

"Hello? I'm right here," Violet announced. "I can hear."

"I know, but you judged me for trusting you, remember?" Emily responded.

Bob sighed. "I guess," he reluctantly answered. It wasn't like he was about to argue with her. He didn't trust leaving her alone in the apartment either. "Maybe bringing her in will show Mr. Carlin that he isn't all that bad."

Emily started laughing. "Bob!"

Violet looked between the two. "I don't get it," she flatly admitted.

"You'll see him tomorrow," Bob told her.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Discoveries (part 1)

Violet stood with Bob on the elevator as they made their way up to the seventh floor. Neither of them had been looking forward to this day. Bob had originally planned on just having her wait out in the reception area until lunch time when Emily would come get her, but the more he thought about it, that probably wasn't the best idea. He told that the only time that she had to wait out there was when he had a patient. He had Carlin at ten and then was free after that until one when he had his group.

Emily was going to come get her when she got done with her appointment. He hoped that was soon. First off, he wanted to know for sure whether or not he would be a father and second, he didn't want Violet sitting there and insulting his patients as they walked in. Although, he had to admit, he was interested to see how she would get along with Mr. Carlin. He wasn't going to be the one to introduce them, but something told him that she was the one to introduce herself to anyone around her.

"So when do I get to meet the crazies?" Violet implored. She leaned against the back wall with her arms folded. She dressed a little brighter today than usual, she wore a dark purple shirt rather than black.

"Don't refer to my patients as the crazies," he instructed her. "They, they just have some problems, that's all."

"Yeah," Violet sighed. "I guess everyone has their issues though. I mean, you can't talk, I'm stuck with you."

"Yes, that's, that's the real tragedy here. You being stuck with me," he replied as the doors finally opened.

Violet sighed as she pushed herself off the wall and walked out, following Bob.

"Good morning Bob," Carol greeted.

"Morning Carol," Bob replied.

"Well, who's this here?" Carol questioned, looking to Violet.

"This, uh, this is our little ray of sunshine," Bob began. "Violet."

Violet just crossed her arms and glared to him out of the corners of her eyes.

"And uh Violet, this is uh Carol," Bob introduced.

"Bob's speech coach," Violet said as she extended her hand to Carol.

Carol got a laugh out of the introduction. Bob however, just watched her, wondering how long this morning was about to be.

"Is he paying you per sentence or by the hour?" Carol jokingly questioned.

"Only for the sentences he can get through without stuttering. So far I've only earned about fifty cents," Violet quipped.

"Well, I'll let you know if there's any other assistance that you can offer around here," Carol informed her.

"I can help you with your hair," Violet offered.

Carol just narrowed her eyes on her. "What are you talking about?"

"It's not too far gone, its not like you're going to need a miracle for it. Just some work," Violet explained.

Bob sighed. "Come on Wednesday, we've insulted the secretary enough for today," he said, grabbing her arm and leading her to his office.

"I wasn't being sarcastic this time," Violet argued.

"That's what makes it worse," Bob replied as he opened the door.

The door opened and as soon as Violet was inside quickly closed the door. "Okay, sit down," he dryly instructed.

Violet went and sat down indian style on top of his desk. "Yes?" she implored, resting her elbows on her knees and propping her head up on her hands.

"Don't uh, don't, don't do that," he warned, motioning for her to get down.

Violet lifted her head off her hands. "Well Bob, you're the one who told me to sit down," she stated.

"I also told you to stop smoking but, but you obviously didn't listen then," he argued. He was referring to the evident order of cigarette smoke that he could smell while in the elevator with her. Most likely, she snuck one while she waited outside the apartment building for him.

"Why? You think it might stunt my growth like it did yours?" Violet quipped.

"I'm not short, I'm, I'm average," he nearly pouted. "Besides, I, I don't smoke. Now get down of off there."

Violet shrugged and then climbed down off the desk and headed over to the couch. "Fine. Tell me what's you gotta tell me," she instructed as she plopped down on the couch.

Bob went and stood before her. He felt if he sat down, he would have less authority over her, and he already felt like he had next to none. "Violet, you, you can't go around insulting people. I am a psychologist. Do you know what that means?" he questioned.

"That you weren't good enough to be a real doctor?" Violet guessed.

"No!" Bob quickly answered. "It, it means that there's going to be people coming here that, that have problems. You can't call a severely depressed person an idiot and, and criticize them!" he explained.

"Why not? Might teach them to face reality," Violet argued.

"What exactly is reality to you?" Bob curiously implored. There was just something that struck him as odd within that response.

Violet rolled her eyes. "If you don't already know what the world is like by now, then you've really got some growing up to do," she replied.

Bob sat down in the chair. "How, how about this, I'll treat you like a patient," he began, knowing that she wasn't about to talk to him just as she was.

"What do you mean? Like call me crazy and shove pills down my throat while strapping me up in a straight jacket?" she asked and then laughed. "Never mind, only psychiatrists can do that. You weren't good enough to make it to that level."

"I don't need to be a psychiatrist to get the sleeping gas from Jerry," he responded. "Now what I was saying, is that you can say what ever you want, how ever you want and you can't get in trouble."

Violet sat back and thought it over. "All right," she agreed. "You want me to tell you what reality is do you?"

"Yes."

"Shit. That's what it is. Shit," she bluntly informed him. "I saw the bodies brought back in bags, I saw the buildings burnt down and I even saw the hippies spit on the soldiers as they got off the boat. No one really cares about anyone and everyone cares about only what they need to get them through the day."

"How uh, how did you see this?" he inquired.

"I was ten in sixty eight and we've moved around California quite a bit," she explained as though he should have known. "My mom's friend was a hippy. Saw a lot of... things, that way."

"What uh, what kinds of things?"

"Well, my mom left me with her for a while in August of sixty nine. I got to see Grace Slick screw up so many times on White Rabbit that no one was even sure of what she was trying, while at the same time, I don't even think they cared what was going on up on that stage," Violet answered. "I also ate a brownie I shouldn't have eaten and then drank some water that wasn't water and almost ate a candy that wasn't candy."

"Are, are you trying to tell me, that uh, that, you went to Woodstock?" he asked, disbelieving her.

Violet nodded. "Yeah, I kind of think I shouldn't have been there though. Saw too many things for an eleven year old," she stated. "That's also the time that I got my name changed."

"What did uh you get it changed to?"

"Violet."

Bob laughed. "No, really," he said.

"Really, Violet," she insisted. "I'll show you." Violet took the wallet out of her purse and opened it so that he could see her driver's license.

Bob took it and read it. "Valarie Harrison," he read.

"Violet's my flower child name and my mom actually liked it a lot more than Valerie, so so started calling me Violet instead," she explained. Violet then took her wallet back and shoved it in her purse. "I'm only seventeen and I've lead a more interesting life than you have," she remarked.

Bob ignored the comment. He only had about fifteen minutes before Elliot came and wanted to get somewhere with Violet before he walked in, barking at her to get out so that he could have his session. "Don't you think that maybe you should consider how your outlook on things affects others?" he offered. "Don't, don't you see how it affects the way that you act?"

"Why should I care how my actions affect other people? It's not as if the people around me have gone out of their way to make sure that I'm not badly affected by what they do. Hell, I don't even think most of them give a damn about me," she answered. Her eyes narrowed on him, as if she were bitter and hurt about the fact that he had even brought it up.

Bob studied her for a moment, waiting for her to continue. He wondered just how much this young girl was hiding. Just because she lead an interesting life didn't mean that it was good.

Violet laughed in spite of the situation. "My mom slept with the neighbor over a year ago. I guess all of that free love stuff rubbed off on her from her friend. I would be willing to bet my life on it that she wasn't thinking about how this would affect me or my dad. I guarantee that all she was thinking about was the fact that she was horny and that Brian looked like fun to get in bed with."

Violet stood up and started pacing as she was getting herself worked up. "I mean, the woman didn't even stop to think that for a second, that he might walk in on her," she mentioned. She stopped and turned back to Bob. "How fucking stupid do you have to be to think that you could hurt someone like that and get away with it? I agree with my father leaving her! No one knows what she did though! They all only know about his leaving! On the other hand though, he didn't think to invite me! I would have kept it a secret! But no! My own father chose that waitress over me! He left me with the slut who now mopes around all day acting like her life is miserable! Well I've got news for you! It's her own damn fault and she can't live with it so she takes it out on me!" she nearly yelled, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Obviously no one gives a damn about how their actions affect me. Why the hell should I care about how mine affect them?" she inquired, sniffling.

For the first time now since she had come to stay with them, Bob felt bad for her. "Since you think your parents didn't care, you feel you shouldn't care," he noted.

"No, I was just rehearsing a part for the school play," she replied.

At this point he figured that no matter what, she was always going to be sardonic, but now maybe at least he could try to get her to tone it down. "Can't you see what you're doing here?" he implored.

Violet shook her head. "What?" she questioned, attempting to calm herself. She already resented the fact that she had gotten upset in front of him, so there was no way that she could allow herself to remain that way.

"You, you were hurt so you try to push people away at the start. Without even trying you just start finding what bothers people and use it to irritate them. You're parents hurt you, so now you figure that keeping others away, that, that you can protect yourself from feeling that way again," he explained.

Violet wiped the tears from her face and sat down on the arm of the couch. "So, you're trying to tell me that when I called you a fake doctor that I was just pushing you away because I thought you could hurt me?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Wow, you really have a sensitive ego there don't ya?" Violet quipped.

The door opened and Elliot walked into the room. "Doctor Hartley? I have some news for you," he announced.

Violet stood up and looked to him. "So this is what a real life psycho looks like," she observed.

Elliot looked to Bob. "Who's the kid and why is she here?" he flatly inquired.

"I don't know, but, then again, why are any of us here?" she asked. "And the name's Violet by the way."

"I don't care, this is my session so get out," Elliot stated.

Violet looked back to Bob. "Did the crazy forget to take his pills today?" she implored.

"The brat's bothering me," Elliot complained.

"His rug is scaring me," Violet remarked.

"Listen you little twit," Elliot started.

"Guys! Guys! I, I, really don't think this is necessary," Bob started.

"But it is!" Violet interrupted. "This idiot thinks he can come in here and call me a brat."

"Truth hurts kid," Elliot replied.

"Violet, just, just go out and wait in the lobby," Bob instructed.

Violet smirked to Elliot as she walked passed him. "Gladly," she responded before walking out the door. She got outside and saw that Carol wasn't at her desk.

It was weird being alone after what had just happened in there. She had just thought about something that she hadn't thought about in a while. Now alone, she was forced to sort of dwell on them. There was nothing to distract her. She slowly walked over to the coffee machine and started to grab herself a cup.

The silence was broken as the elevator doors opened. Violet turned and watched as Emily stepped onto the seventh floor, smiling with excitement.

"I guess the rabbit croaked?" Violet said.

Emily looked to her and nodded. "Yes," she answered.

Violet slightly laughed. "Congrats. I would hug you or something, but I don't do that," she explained.

"Is Bob in there with a patient?" Emily questioned.

"No, I'm out here for the atmospheric pleasure," Violet stated before taking a sip of coffee. "I thought this whole thing was going to take longer."

Emily shrugged. "I got there at eight this morning," she informed her. She was still very excited over the news.

"Well, the funny looking guy with the rug just got in there, so you have about an hour until he gets out of there," Violet mentioned.

"Oh," Emily's shoulders slightly fell. Although she was nervous to tell him, hearing the doctor tell her that she was pregnant today was the best thing that she could have heard. That along with Bob's promise last night, there was nothing that could upset her today. "I didn't even look at the time. I was just focused on getting here and telling Bob the news," she explained.

"It happens."

"You wanna go to lunch?" Emily offered.

"It's ten in the morning," Violet replied.

"I'm hungry," Emily stated.

Violet sighed. "I guess I have nothing better to do around here anyways," she reasoned. She set the cup down and followed Emily onto the elevator.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Discoveries (part 2)

Emily and Violet sat together at the table. Violet sat there, mostly thinking to herself. When she was younger, she never really noticed all the things wrong with her life. It was hard to think about even going back to her mom now. She only had one more year though, and then she could move out and do what ever she wanted.

"You usually have more to say," Emily noted. Even though Violet could bother her a little, the silence was bothering her even more right now. It was like she knew something that she wasn't telling her.

Violet looked to her. "I was told that if I have nothing nice to say, that I shouldn't say anything at all," she responded.

Emily smiled to her. "Never stopped you before."

"Things change," Violet responded. Her eyes wandered down to the table before her. That was the best that she could come up with right now and hoped that it prevented further questioning.

"Did something by any chance happen this morning that bothered you?" Emily implored, genuinely concerned.

Violet sighed. She leaned forward on the table, a smirk forming as her eyes went back up to Emily. "You had a pretty perfect life growing up didn't you?" she questioned.

Emily was perplexed by the question as she looked to Violet for a minute. "I wouldn't say perfect," she answered.

"But, you got along with your parents and sister. Right?"

"Yes."

"You grew up getting attention from mommy and daddy. They would take you to do all the fun and exciting things. Your sister would give you advice on things. Everyone had to fight every once in a while but when it came down to it, you guys actually liked having each other around. Right?" Violet inquired.

"For the most part," Emily replied, still wondering where all of this was coming from.

Violet nodded. "And you and Bob are gonna turn out to be pretty good parents," she softly stated more to herslf. She then sat back in her chair and stared off towards the side. "I guess that's how it work, so it's all just as well."

"Do you mind telling what you're going on about?" Emily was starting to get concerned about all of this.

A smug, crooked smile came across Violet's face as she looked to Emily from the corners of her eyes. "I believe that if you actually listened, that you'll pick up on it sooner or later. And until then, its for me to know and you to figure out."

Emily quizzically looked to her, wondering if she should really be concerned, or if this was just something that Violet was doing to mess with her. At this point, she wouldn't put it past her. At the same time though, she would feel guilty ignoring an actual problem.

Violet softly laughed. "Don't worry. It's really not your problem anyways," she assured her. "You have better things to worry about anyways."

Emily just nodded in response. She didn't know how to take that response either. Something was missing, and apart of her was afraid to actually know what it was.

Ooo

The elevator doors opened and Violet and Emily stepped off the elevator together as Bob walked Elliot out into the lobby.

"I'll see you tomorrow Mr. Carlin," Bob called to him as he walked towards the elevator.

Elliot stopped and looked back to him. "I really wish you wouldn't say that. You might curse me now," he stated.

"Nothing's gonna happen to you because I said something Mr. Carlin. I, I wish you could learn that," Bob replied.

"Will too," Elliot argued and then walked over to the elevator.

"I would be willing to push you down the elevator shaft to help prove your point," Violet offered.

"Why don't you go play out in the street?" Elliot asked as he pushed the down button.

"Bet you more cars would be willing to hit your ugly face than they would me," she quipped.

"How, how about you two come into my office," Bob offered. He didn't like Elliot and Violet arguing, and most importantly, he wanted to hear what Emily had to say. By this point, he figured that she was pregnant. She had this happy, content look to her. She was distracted enough to not even want to interfere with Violet and Elliot.

"See ya dog face," Violet said.

"Later brat," Elliot responded before stepping into the elevator.

Emily looked between the two as she followed Violet into the office. Bob nodded to Emily as he stood in the doorway, holding the door. He knew, and she knew that he knew.

Violet went and sat back down on top of the desk as she watched him close the door. Emily just stood there in the middle of the room, waiting for the perfect chance to make her announcement. "I'm pregnant!" she finally burst as soon as Bob was facing her.

That was the moment that Bob went numb. He was scared. That was the only way that he could describe it. He couldn't show that to Emily though, she was too excited. It would break his heart to see this ruined for her. "Really?" he implored, forcing a smile.

"Nah, the doctor's a crackhead. She as a really odd version of the flu," Violet remarked.

Emily and Bob both glanced back to her. They kind of just ignored her though. Bob went ahead and hugged Emily and then kissed her. "Con, congratulations," he forced.

"Congratulations to you too," Emily replied, slightly laughing.

Violet sat in the background watching, wondering if Emily could tell that he was feigning happiness right now. It was obvious to her, but then again, she was the one who had freaked him out the other night.

"Bob? I want you to be honest," Emily began, going from happy to serious.

"No you don't," Violet cut in.

Bob looked over to her. "Why are you here?" he inquired.

"You invited me in. You have to keep a constant eye on me, remember?"

Emily sighed as she grabbed Bob's hands. "I want you to be honest with me. Are you okay with this?"

Bob looked her straight in the eyes. It was hard to say yes, but he couldn't honestly say no either. It was weird, it was like he didn't know how he felt. Anything he said would have been wrong. "I'm nervous," he admitted. "I, I mean, what if this baby turns out," he stopped a second and motioned over to Violet. "What, what if she turns out like her?"

"Gotta be honest, that hurt Bob," Violet dryly replied as she rested her head in her hands.

Emily's face completely dropped. "Are you saying that you won't love them if they turn out to be bad?" she questioned, hurt by what he was implying.

"Now I'm bad," Violet muttered.

Bob ignored Violet and sighed. "Now Emily, I, I never said that. I'm just saying that I don't want to have a heart attack because my fourteen year old is, is out getting arrested somewhere," he explained.

Right after Bob said that to Emily, Violet knew that this wasn't going to end well. She reached over and grabbed the pad of paper off of his desk and started writing a note.

Emily just looked to him, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "If that's how you feel," she softly replied, trying her hardest to maintain her composure.

Bob reached over and embraced her. "I love you, and I'll love the baby," he assured her. "I just, I need some time to adjust."

Emily pulled back and forced a smile to him. "I know," she replied. "I'm gonna go home now," she informed him and then looked back to Violet, signaling for her to follow her.

Violet set the notepad back on the desk and climbed down.

Bob just watched the two left and then went over to see what the young girl had been doing with his notepad. Curiously, he picked it and started reading the note she scribbled on there. "Kind of vain to worry about how you'll be affected when she's the one having the baby isn't it? Oh yeah, and you owe me ten dollars," he read out loud and then tossed the pad back onto the desk.

As hard as it was for him to admit it, she was right. He acted like a jerk and he had to apologize and show her that he did care.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Take Me How I Am

"Are you okay?" Violet implored as the two walked into the apartment together.

Emily had been quiet the entire trip home. She sighed as she closed the door behind her. "Yeah," she answered. It was weird having even Violet ask her if she was fine. That was how she knew that her disappointment and hurt must have been obvious.

Violet stood there at the door with her arms crossed as she watched Emily walked over to the kitchen. "There's no possible way for your kid to end up like me. You know that," she mentioned.

Emily grabbed a glass and began to fill it with water. "I know that," she replied. "I just wish Bob did."

"Do you think it would help if I explained that to him?" she offered. Now, after seeing how this all affected Emily, she felt guilty over the remarks that she had made to him the other night. This was all happening because she decided to be cute.

Emily turned to face her. "You could try if you want, but something tells me that he needs to figure this all out on his own," she informed her. "Like he said, he just has to adjust."

Violet nodded as she dropped her arms to her sides. She slowly walked over and sat down on the couch, curling up in the corner.

Emily studied her, wondering what was going through her mind. It had to be something interesting, the young girl looked like she was really thinking about something. Maybe it was time that she tried talking to this girl.

She took a final drink from the cup and set it down in the sink before joining her on the couch. "So, are you excited about moving?" she inquired.

Violet looked up to her as if she had to be crazy. "No!" she quickly responded.

"Why not?" Emily was a little surprised by such a reaction. She didn't think that she would be thrilled, but she never expected her to hate the idea.

Violet shrugged. "Would you wanna have to move and make new friends and everything right before you start your senior year? When I get there, I'll have a week before school starts back up."

"It won't be that hard to make new friends. You just have to open up a little. Let people get to know you," she explained.

Violet laughed. "Yeah, that's a great idea. My mom walked in on me opening up and letting my boyfriend get to know me and she was thrilled," she scoffed.

Emily just stared at her for a second. She quite honestly, had no idea what to say to that. "That's not what I meant," she said. Sex in no way bothered her, but listening to her baby cousin mention doing it, that bothered her.

Violet laughed at discomfort. "You wanna know the worst part? Half the reason I did it was to hurt my mom. I did it in her bedroom to hurt her the same way that she hurt my daddy when he walked in on her doing it with her boyfriend in their bedroom."

Emily's uneasiness turned to concern. "Honey, you can't do that! First off, its a complete misuse of something that's meant to show someone how much you love them. Second, You just used a boy. You can't just use people like that," she told her.

Violet sighed. "You're obviously too naïve and innocent to talk to about this," she stated as she stood up.

"Wait," Emily called. "You can talk to me. It was just something I felt strongly about. It was wrong of your mother to cheat, but that doesn't make what you did any better."

Violet stopped and looked to her. "You're more naïve than I thought. How wrong could it have been if neither of the two of us got hurt? And how bad is it that my mom got hurt after she blatantly went out and cheated on my dad? You're talking about right and wrong as if there's this clear cut line between the two," she explained.

Emily sighed. "I know that there's never just right and wrong. Believe me, I understand that, but you have to keep in mind that you're a kid making adult decisions," she replied.

"Right, and I found out that I'm more of an adult than my mother," Violet informed her and then continued to the den.

Emily sat there and sighed. She wanted to go after her and try again, but something told her that Violet was the type who would come back out when she was ready. Besides, it gave her the chance to think about what to say to her.

Ooo

Bob came through the door with a dozen roses. "Hi Emily," he greeted.

Emily walked out of the bedroom and smiled. "Hi Bob," she replied, eyeing the roses. She walked over and accepted the flowers as she gave him a kiss.

"I uh, I have somewhere I want to take you tonight," he told her.

"Well, all right," she responded. "But, aren't you forgetting something?"

"Right," Bob said and then turned towards the den. "Violet? Valerie? What ever your name is? Can you, can you come out here?"

Violet came out and joined the two by the door. "Yes?" she questioned.

"We're leaving. So uh, you're going to have to feed Howard when he comes over here in a few minutes," he instructed, causing Emily to softly laugh.

"Got it."

"Can we trust you to behave? Just for a few hours?" Emily nearly begged. She wanted to be able to go out without having to worry about Violet getting into too much trouble.

Violet let out an over exaggerated sigh. "I guess so," she answered.

They said their good byes and assured her that they would be back before late. She was pretty sure that they were just letting her know that she didn't have enough time to sneak out anywhere and come back without getting caught.

Ooo

Bob held Emily's hand as he lead her down to the end of the Navy Pier. It was busy, and it was crowded, but he wasn't about to let that ruin what he was doing.

Once they stood at the end, they both leaned on the railing and looked out over the lake. "Do uh, do you remember what, what happened here?" he implored, looking to her.

Emily smiled to him. "I got a very expensive piece of jewelry," she answered with a laugh, looking down and playing with her engagement ring.

"And uh, do, do you remember what I uh, what I said?"

"Remind me," she replied, enjoying this.

"Well, I, I told you that uh, that no matter what, that I would be there for you. I remember promising that I would never leave your side. I would make you happy, no matter what it took. And, most importantly, that, that I could never love anyone as much as I love you," he said.

Emily completely turned to him, a small tear forming in her eye. She watched with interest as he pulled a box out of his pocket, waiting until she absolutely had to speak. She knew that the second she started talking, she would cry.

"I, I went and get this the first time that we were trying to have a baby," he began, holding out the box.

Emily accepted it and open it. On the inside lay a small, simple gold charm bracelet. There were three charms on it, a rose, a bow and a pair of baby shoes with a little diamond on them.

"I guessed that the baby was, was due in April, so I took the bracelet down today and asked what the birthstone would be," he explained.

"Bob, it's beautiful," she softly told him.

"I wanted to let you know that, that even though I'm scared and nervous, I, I want to be there. I want to be a father to our baby. I love you, and I know that no matter what, as long as it's our baby, I'll, I'll love it."

A lone tear rolled down her cheek as she smiled to him. "Thank you," she shakily responded. She planted a kiss on his lips.

He kissed her back. "How about we get out of here and go get dinner?" he offered, starting to get annoyed with the crowd around him. He just noticed that there were a few witnesses gathered around. He figured that they must have been waiting for a proposal.

"Sure," she replied.

He put his around around her and lead her back to the car.

Ooo

Violet was alone in the apartment. She stood in the bathroom before the mirror. Just staring at herself. Today there were a lot of things on her mind. It was all the things that she had forced herself not to think about.

"_Nora!" Peter yelled. _

_Violet, who was laying on her bed reading, jumped up. Those were the days when her room was kept a little clean. She rushed to the door, but decided not to open it as she heard the yelling out in the hall. _

"_What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded. _

"_You weren't here enough Peter," Nora cried. _

_Violet slid down to the floor and leaned against the door as she continued to listen. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. _

"_Just get him the hell out of my sight Nora," he ordered. _

"_Fine." _

_Peter huffed. "I can't be here right now. I'm going out," he stated. His heavy, stern footsteps could be heard. He slammed the door, causing Violet to flinch. That was the last she had ever heard of him. _

She looked down, holding onto the sink.

_Violet stepped into the living room to see Nora casually reading a magazine. She stood there, staring to her with a red, puffy face, stained from crying. "You bitch," she spat. _

_Nora looked up to, unaffected by her words. _

"_I lost it," she informed her. _

"_I know," Nora flatly replied and then went back to her magazine. _

"_Fuck you," Violet angrily hissed and then stormed out the back door where she sat on the porch. It was dark out, so no one could see her bawling her eyes out. Her room would have worked just as well, but she was further away from her mother out here. _

Violet stood there, staring down to the sink. She looked back up, her make up smeared under her puffy eyes. She desperately tried to wipe the tears away, but it didn't matter. There were still more coming, just quickly enough to replace them dried ones. She grabbed a fist full of tissues and headed back to the den where she closed the door behind her.

There was no telling when Bob and Emily would get back, and she wanted to make sure that they wouldn't be able to tell that she had been crying. Bob had already seen her cry today, and had heard enough about her home life.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Daddy's Girl

Violet sat at the table with her breakfast before her. The place was silent. She had figured that Bob and Emily probably continued their little celebration after they got home. She was curious to hear about what he did though. The two didn't get home late, but she had fallen asleep. With nothing else to do, it seemed like the best choice.

"Violet?" Emily groggily asked. She stood in the doorway pale faced and a hand over her abdomen.

Violet turned and looked her over. "Nice to see that pregnancy hasn't kept you from partying hard," she remarked.

Emily made her way over to the couch and sat down. "I'm not up to it this morning," she weakly stated. "All week and today is the worst morning."

"You would think the one hangover would teach you." The young girl looked to her for a second and then sighed. She reached over and grabbed the box of crackers that she set on the table earlier. "I made you breakfast," she mentioned.

Right now Emily could not bare to eat anything. Violet had made pancakes, and the smell of the syrup was getting to her. The only reason that she had gotten out of bed was because she felt a little better sitting up, and Bob was still asleep.

Violet shrugged and set the box back down. "So, how did last night go?" she implored.

Emily smiled to her. "He took me to the place where he proposed and gave me a present," she answered. She held up her wrist to show her.

Violet smiled as she got up and joined her on the couch. She took Emily's wrist in her hands and eyed the three charms. "You know that each of these things means something right?"

"I haven't really thought about it," Emily responded. "You know what they mean?"

Violet smirked. "Yeah," she replied and then looked up to her. "The rose, its a sign of immortal love taken from the Greek goddess Aphrodite. It means that no matter what, he'll always love you. Even death couldn't separate you. Then this bow here, it means innocence, purity. A daddy's girl, which I have no trouble believing you are. Then of course, we come to the little baby shoes here. Naturally, means you're having a baby. But when you dream about baby shoes, it also signifies an element of innocence and sweetness," she explained.

"Really drilling that naïve thing in aren't you?" Emily questioned.

"You can check. Those are the real meanings behind these things," Violet assured her, dropping her wrist. She sat back, her smirk remaining on her face. "Were you offended?"

"No."

"You believed it though didn't you?" she inquired, starting to laugh. "You have to admit, there's an odd sort of irony in that. Believing someone when they call you naïve."

"Were you offended by me telling you that I thought what you did was wrong?" Emily implored.

Violet shook her head. "I figured that you wouldn't understand from the beginning. You're naïve and innocent enough to believe that there is a right and wrong for everything and that two wrongs don't make a right. And I guess in a way you're right, what I did didn't actually change anything that happened, but it did however, make me feel better. It also taught my mom a minor lesson," she informed her.

Emily looked to her with curiosity. What was she really trying to do? Get her approval? Prove her wrong? Violet seemed like she really didn't care what other's thought. What made this so different? "Are you trying to convince me?" she inquired.

"In all honesty, I truly and completely mean this when I say this. No sarcasm or anything like that intended," she began and then looked Emily in the eyes. "I'm jealous." The words came out without any emotion. Just a dead stare. "I don't want to know half the things I do. Truth be told, you wouldn't even understand half of the stuff that I do or the things I've been through."

Emily didn't know what to tell her. Part of her thought that maybe it wasn't as bad as Violet was making it out to be, but there was a huge part of her that was troubled upon hearing this.

Violet noted the silence and got up to head back over to the table where she continued her breakfast. There was no reason to sit there and wonder what was going through her head. She knew that Emily was having a hard time with the information that she was giving her. She was okay with that, she already knew that she would have a hard time with this. She was the goody two shoes. She was the one who had the perfect little life. Her parents actually thought of her. Her mother never went behind her back.

"Don't be offended. It's not like you're being excluded from the greatest club ever," she stated.

"Good morning honey," Bob said as he entered the living room. He went over to the couch and kissed Emily on the forehead.

"Morning Bob," she replied.

Violet sighed as she stared down to her plate. "Yeah, it was good," she muttered, just loud enough for him to hear it.

"Just like having our own little ray of sunshine," Bob quipped as he went and sat down at the table.

Violet looked up to him and watched as he grabbed at the extras on the table. "You realize I made that right? There could be some blood or something in those," she explained.

Bob let the pancake drop from his fork back onto the plate and then stared over to Emily. "Remind me again why she's here," he requested.

"Because a fake doctor and a knocked up grade school teacher can take better care of me than a wanna be hippy flower power chick," Violet casually answered. "I mean, really, I haven't been arrested yet, that's impressive. Props to you two," she announced, holding up her glass of orange juice.

"I'm a vice principal now," Emily stated.

Violet shrugged. "Kids cheer when you're gone. What's the difference?"

"My class liked me," Emily softly pouted, a tad offended.

Violet looked to her from the corner of her eye. Even though she found it ridiculous to be offended over such a small thing, she decided to make up for it. "I'm sure the kids loved you," she assured her. "You seem like you would be good with kids."

"Sure, make it up to her when she gets offended. You ignore me when I get offended," Bob remarked, although, he was glad that she did say something to Emily. He hated to see anyone hurt her, even if it was something minor.

"There's a difference. She'll cry. You won't. I can't stand crying people," she explained.

"That's, that's always the best reason to uh, to make up for saying something offensive," he dryly replied.

"I always thought so," Violet responded.

The phone rang and Emily stood up. "I've got it," she announced. She wanted to get up and walk around now. "Hello?" she answered. Noticeably perplexed, she turned and looked to Bob. "I'm sorry, I don't know a Scott Merrin."

Violet jumped up. "That's for me!" she announced as she ran over and snatched the phone out of Emily's hands. "Hi."

Emily slightly laughed as she looked to Bob with disbelief.

"All right, I'll meet you there in a few minutes!" she said and then hung up the phone before quickly running into the den and grabbing her purse. "I'll be back in a little bit!" she announced.

"You're grounded!" Bob called out to her.

"Don't worry, I didn't forget," Violet reassured him, right before she left.

Emily sighed as she sat down in Violet's place. "At least this time she didn't take any money," she noted.

"And she did remember that she's supposed to be grounded," Bob added.

"Besides, we're about to have our own. We might be able to do better with that one," Emily remarked.

Ooo

Violet walked over to the table and slid into the booth across from Scott. "I was starting to think that you would never call," she mentioned with a slight smirk.

"I was busy," he offered an excuse.

"Doesn't matter. You called," she responded as she picked up the menu. Slowly, she looked up from behind the menu and stared at the man across the room, the one sitting with a petite blonde. She had to watch for a minute, but there was no denying who it was. "No," she gasped.

"What?" Scott inquired. He thought it was something he had done, even though he hadn't actually done anything at this point.

Violet just stared at the man. "The man paying the bill over there. That's my father," she explained to him.

Scott turned back and glanced at the scene. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure! It's my father!"

"Whoa," he responded as he turned back to face Violet. "You wanna get out of here before he walks passed us?" he offered.

"He's standing up, it would be too late now." Violet slumped down in her seat. "I don't want him to notice me. Pretend we're talking about something," she instructed.

"Okay. Um, how about you tell me what your favorite place is?"

Violet kept her eyes glued on her father as he started walking towards her. "The basement of my friend's house. Nothing ever seems to go wrong there. No one gets caught there ever," she absently answered.

It was as soon as Peter got close to the table that she quit talking. He looked over to her. Their eyes met for a brief moment before he quickly adverted his eyes. That to her, was a stab in the heart. Even though she didn't want to talk to him, it hurt her to see him intentionally ignore her. She knew that he saw her, it was obvious when he looked away.

She sat up and turned around to watch as he left with his girlfriend. "Bastard," she blurted out as she turned back around in her seat.

"I thought you didn't want him to notice you," Scott said.

Violet just looked up to him. "Right," she replied, forcing a smile. She thought that was what she wanted too. Apparently she was wrong.

Scott picked up on the fact that she was hurt. "Maybe he didn't recognize you. Or maybe he just figured that it couldn't be you since you don't live in Chicago."

"We had eye contact. He had to see that it was me. I am his daughter for crying out loud," she bitterly argued. She then sighed. "Look, I hope you understand. I have to go now, I just, I need to be alone for a little while," she told him.

"Yeah! Sure, of course," he responded.

"Thanks for the attempt though. I'll have to call you this time," she said as she stood up.

"I'll be waiting," Scott called to her as she started to leave.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Out of Place (part 1)

Violet got out of the restaurant and spotted her father with that slut of a waitress down at the corner, waiting to cross the street. It was now or never. She hastened to the corner. As she was approaching, she spotted the puddle right before them on the street. Instead of stopping and saying something to him, she rushed past the two and jumped into the puddle, making sure to splash them. A smile came across her face as she heard the lady squeal.

"Hey! What's you're problem?" Peter called out.

Violet stopped at the other side of the street and glared to him. "I'm not quite sure. I might be a jerk though. Probably take after my lousy parents," she responded before turning and storming off.

Peter sighed and ran after her. "Violet!" he sternly called to her.

Violet stopped, but refused to turn and face him. "What?" she curtly asked, her arms folded. She just wanted to splash him. She didn't want to actually talk to him.

"What the hell was that all about back there?" he questioned through gritted teeth.

Violet scrunched her brow in confusion. "You seriously have no idea?"

"No."

"Tell me what you and little miss coffee and doughnuts are doing here," she demanded as she quickly wheeled around to him.

"Her parents live in Indiana. We were stopping here on our way there," he calmly explained. "We're thinking about getting married. Now tell me what that was all about back there."

Violet just stared to him with disbelief. "You walk right by me, intentionally ignore me, and still wonder what you did wrong? Are you being like, purposely stupid? Or are you really this slow?"

Peter sighed. "Look, I left you and Nora for a reason. I wanted to start over. I don't need you coming back into my life and screwing things up between Cathy and I," he explained.

"Yes, I'm clearly the one that screwed up things between you and Nora. I planted the naked man in the bed with her and then silly me, I undressed her, completely forgetting about the naked man," she shot back.

"Listen, just stay away from me and let this work," he ordered.

Violet just stood there, looking him up and down. "That won't be hard," she replied and then turned and walked back towards the apartment. She had more things that she wanted to tell him, like how bad of a father he is and how she hopes that this falls apart. Not now though. She was too infuriated. It was hard even knowing that he was still there. She was getting further from him, but it wasn't nearly far enough.

Ooo

Bob and Howard sat on the couch together while Emily went to get ready for the day. "How do you think they can do that?" Howard asked. They had just scene someone on tv do a card trick where the man knew the card that the lady had chosen.

"Probably a marked deck" Bob flatly replied.

Howard looked to him. "Well Bob, it would be dumb if the cards were blank. That doesn't explain the trick though," he responded.

Bob looked to him for a second. "You're, you're right Howard, it doesn't," he said and then went back to watching the show.

The door flew open and quickly shut with Violet rushing to the den. Bob and Howard both looked back. "I guess smiley's back," Bob remarked. He then looked down and checked his watch. She had only been gone a half hour. "I guess I'd better go talk to her," he noted and then stood up.

"I'll just stay here," Howard told him. After the Exorcist comment a few nights ago, he thought it best to stay out in the open.

"You, you do that. And let me know if you figure out that trick," Bob instructed as he headed back to the den.

Ooo

Violet sat on the edge of the bed and stared down to the ground. It wasn't hard for her to understand why her father had reacted the way that he did. His last marriage with Nora sucked. She had been saying that since she was a little girl. There was no way that he parents could have stayed together any longer. It was the way that Nora had ended it though that bothered her. Now, Peter was out there trying to completely start over.

Again, she had no problem with that. It was just the way that he had handled it. He cut her out of his life and ignored her. She was his daughter. Did it make her a spoiled brat to want her father to say hi to her? Even when she acted like she didn't want to be noticed?

"That was uh, some quick lunch," Bob stated as he entered the room.

Violet looked up to him. "I just ate before I left, how much food you think I can fit?"

"Well, if you uh, you think of something else to say," he began.

Violet sat there and sighed. "Same rules apply here as in the office?"

Bob shrugged. "Sure," he replied, nodding.

Violet sat there and stared to him for a moment. She had to go about this a certain way. She couldn't just come out and tell him that her father hurt her. "I enjoy sex," she flat out announced. "Haven't done it too much, but I have done it a couple times. I enjoyed it more the second time, I was a little drunk and less tight."

Bob uncomfortably stared to her. "Um, you, you wanna go with that?" he cautiously implored, taking a seat at the end of the bed.

Violet laughed, smirking to him. "You can't be that uncomfortable with it. It's not like you're a virgin because if that's the case your wife's got some 'splainin to do," she responded. "Anyways though, I used it to get back at Nora for chasing my dad away. Lost my virginity right in her bed. She walked in on us," she told him.

"And did that make you feel better?" he questioned.

Violet smiled as she nodded. "Yes actually. She was so damn awkward around me for so long. I really truly felt like I had gotten back at her."

"So, you're saying that you showed her that you could hurt her like she did you?" he clarified.

Violet nodded. "Yep." She looked down for a minute before looking over to Bob who was patiently waiting for her to continue. "For a man whose profession relies on talk talk talk you appear to be at a loss for words," she stated.

"I just, I uh, wanted to make sure that you were done," he patiently explained.

Violet smirked. "I'm never actually done. I still have to get back at my father you know," she informed him, almost menacingly.

"How, how do you plan on doing that?" he questioned, concerned.

Violet shrugged as she looked down towards the ground. "I don't know," she admitted. "What's equal to telling someone that you want them out of your life?"

"Did he tell you this right before he left?" Bob inquired.

Violet shook her head. "Nope," she sighed. "Just now. I saw him in the restaurant. He ignored me, I followed him, he told me that he doesn't want me around to screw up what he has with his little whore of a girlfriend."

Bob thought for a moment. "Maybe the best thing to do is, is to show him that you don't need him. You, you got rid of him before he got rid of you," he offered.

Violet considered the idea. There wasn't much else that she could do. "I guess that works," she responded.

Emily walked into the room. "Bob?" she called as she entered.

Violet turned and looked to her. "What do you think this is? Your house?" she inquired. "Knock first."

"My husband and I do own the place," she responded.

"Actually, you rent. It's an apartment. You can never own an apartment unless you own the building," Violet argued.

Emily just sighed, she had better things to do than to argue with a seventeen year old over living arrangements.

"Calm down. I gave you five bucks earlier," she told her.

"When?" Emily asked, going through the events of the morning.

"I slipped it into your purse. By the way, you're out of gum. I would get some the next time you're out," Violet responded.

"Why, why do you find it okay to go through Emily's purse?" Bob questioned.

Violet shrugged. "I didn't take anything this time," she stated.

Emily crossed her arms. "Yes, but you can't just go through someone's personal property," she informed her.

"Hey, I'm sorry, but if either of you randomly slipped money into my purse, I would be extremely happy about it," Violet said.

Bob stood up and walked over towards Emily. "Maybe we should just let it go," he suggested. He could see that she was pretty agitated as it was.

"Fine," Emily sighed. "I just wanted to tell you that Howard and Ellen want to meet us tonight for dinner. I thought we could tell them about the baby there," she suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea," Bob replied and then looked back to Violet. She was sitting on the edge of the bed playing with her hair. Even though she annoyed him, he did feel a little sorry for her. That was why he was about to do something that he knew Emily would not be happy with at first. "Can I talk to you a minute. Out, out there?" he requested, motioning towards the living room.

"Sure," she answered, picking up on the seriousness in his voice. She looked to him with concern before turning and leading him through the living room. Howard was still sitting on the couch and Emily really did not want to stand there explaining to him why he had to leave. It was quicker and easier just to go into the bedroom and close the door. "What is it?" she questioned.

Bob sighed. "I, I think we should invite Violet and her uh, her friend," he carefully announced.

Emily stared to him for a minute, trying to decide whether or not he was kidding. "Bob! You're serious," she responded, not sure what to think. It wasn't such a bad idea. It was just odd. She knew that Violet was hard to get along with at first. For some reason, she seemed to like Howard, but she wasn't sure how she and Ellen would get along. Besides that, this was supposed to be her night, and she didn't want it getting ruined.

"Now, before you get upset, I've, I've been talking to her and she thinks no one cares about her. I just, I just want to show her that we recognize her presence," he explained.

Emily sighed. "Okay, you can tell her to call the guy up and ask him. Just make sure that she behaves herself," she explained.

"How about you do it?" Bob implored. "She already knows that I know about her. It might mean more coming from, from you," he explained.

Emily nodded. "I'll go talk to her," she said before leaving the room. She and Bob walked out to see Violet sitting on the couch with Howard, attempting to show him the trick.

"Okay," Violet sighed. She sat facing him on the couch with the deck of cards in her hand. "Now, you're going to pick a card and I'm going to be able to tell you which card you have," she instructed.

Howard went ahead and picked one from the pile and looked at it. Violet then went ahead and looked down at the pile, studying it for a second. "Did you just pick the three of hearts?" she questioned.

Howard looked amazed. "Wow," he gasped. "How did you do that?"

Violet smugly smiled. "I'm psychic. I was able to read your mind. You were thinking about it weren't you?" she implored.

Howard turned to face Bob and Emily. "Have you seen this?" he asked.

"Amazing isn't she?" Bob implored. Knowing her, he figured that she had been using a trick deck.

"Mr. Borden?" she got his attention. "Why don't you take these over to your place and figure it out yourself. All the best magicians are self taught," Violet informed him.

Howard took the deck and headed for the door. "I'll be back in a little bit," he announced before leaving.

"Marked?" Bob implored as soon as Howard was gone.

Violet shook her head. "No. I just never shuffled them. All the cards were in order. I just counted the number of cards that were above the one he picked," she answered.

Emily walked over and sat down on the couch as Bob nodded and headed into the kitchen. "Violet?" she asked. "I was wondering if you and your friend would like to come to dinner with the four of us tonight," she invited.

Violet shrugged. "Sure," she responded. "When and where should I tell him to meet me?"

"You can tell him to meet you here at six thirty. We'll all go together," Emily answered. Truthfully, she did want to meet this boy before hand and see how the two behave together. Give herself a chance to prepare for what the night was about to be like.

"Okay, will do," Violet cheerfully obliged. She stood up and headed to the den to grab the phone number.

Emily offered Bob a smile. "You really are a sweet man Bob," she told him.

"I know."

"We might be paying for it tonight," she added.

"I know."

**A/N  
Yes, I know, I used a line from Jessica Lange. I just had to though. Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter anyways. **


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Out of Place (part 2)

Violet stood in the bathroom in the den making sure that everything was as perfect as it could get. Her hair was pulled back with a dark purple ribbon that she found to use as a head band. She had on softer make up than usual. She was wearing a simple purple sundress. Tonight, she wanted to show them that she could go out to places like this.

At the same time, she was very grateful that she was invited. It wasn't too often that she was invited anywhere besides a party. It was nice. She liked it.

As soon as she was happy with her appearance she went out to join Bob and Emily out in the living room.

"So that's what the wicked witch of the west looks like without the make up," Bob remarked.

"Awe, funny man made a funny," she shot back to him.

"I think you look really nice Violet," Emily stated.

"Thank you," Violet smiled. "I hope Scott likes it too, he's not used to seeing me like this yet."

"Like what? Human?" Bob inquired.

"No," Violet argued. "Not wearing a bra," she informed him. She laughed as soon as she saw his discomfort.

There was a knock at the door, which Violet pretty ran to answer. "Hi Scott," she greeted upon opening the door.

Scott walked in and looked around the room. "Hey Violet. Hi, everyone," he returned the greeting.

Violet grabbed his hand and lead him over towards the couch where Bob and Emily stood. "Bob, Emily, this is Scott, the boy that I snuck out to see. And Scott, these are my cousins Bob and Emily," she introduced.

Scott extended his hand to the two. "Scott Merrin."

"Nice to meet you," Emily replied.

"Yeah, it, uh it's nice to finally see who she was sneaking out to meet," Bob remarked, receiving a slight glare from Violet.

"You should've seen the guys I'd sneak out to meet with back home," she commented.

"I think I'll stick with this," he responded.

"That's a compliment," Violet told Scott.

"Thank you sir," he said. Scott was obviously a little nervous. Emily, personally found it cute that he was a little nervous. He didn't want to do anything wrong.

"Now that everyone's acquainted here, don't you think we should head over there before Howard and Ellen get there?" Emily asked, thinking it might help Scott feel less awkward if they went ahead and got to the restaurant.

"Sure," Bob said.

Violet offered a smile to Emily, recognizing what she was doing.

oooo

The four arrived before Ellen and Howard. They headed over to the round table in the corner that the waitress had lead them to. Scott pulled out Violet's chair for her, causing Violet to offer him a soft smile. "Thank you," she said, as Scott took the seat next to her.

Emily went ahead and sat down next to Violet. She wanted to be able to keep an eye on her tonight.

Violet noticed the action and softly laughed. "Did you bring that safety pin with you just in case?" she questioned.

"You don't want me sitting next to you?" Emily inquired.

"You can sit next to me, I like you remember? I just thought it was odd that you wanted to. That's all," Violet explained.

"Why?"

Violet slightly glared to her. "Fear for your life," she replied.

"I've still got that safety pin," Emily dryly warned.

"Well played," Violet stated. "I didn't think goody two shoes carried weapons around with them."

"Just because I disagreed with you earlier doesn't mean I'm a goody two shoes," Emily argued.

"You're so cute," Violet laughed.

"Bob," Emily slightly whined.

Bob sighed as he set down the menu he was reading. "Emily, she, she called you cute. There are other four letter words out there that are far worse than cute," he explained. He too, wanted this dinner to go as smoothly as possible. He also knew that Emily was more mature than Violet and hoped that she would be the one to handle herself.

"He's right you know," Scott agreed, mainly just to not feel left out of the conversation.

"I do know a few," Violet added.

"I guess," Emily sighed in defeat.

Violet looked over to Scott. "She's knocked up so she's a little emotional lately," she told him, keeping her voice hushed.

Emily just rolled her eyes. It was better to just let it go for now, even though she really didn't like being called knocked up.

"Congrats Mrs. Hartley," Scott said, looking over to her.

"Thank you," she responded, forcing a smile.

The group fell silent for a moment. "And if it helps, you two are already doing better than my parents. Your kid there is gonna be a lot better than I am," Violet announced.

Emily looked to her with a slight smile. She was about to say something, but Ellen and Howard arrived.

"Hi Bob, hi Emily, Linda," Howard greeted, going around the table. He stopped at Scott. Leaning down to Bob, he whispered, asking who he was.

"This is Scott," Violet introduced as soon as she saw him lean down to Bob. "And I'm Violet, not Linda," she corrected him, smirking as she figured out where he got that name.

"Oh," Howard replied, standing. "This is Ellen Hartley. This is the girl I love," he announced.

Violet smiled at that. To her, that was one of the sweetest introductions that she had ever heard. Just a statement of love, no titles attached. "Nice to meet ya Ms. Hartley," she said.

"Ellen's fine," she responded as she and Howard took their seats.

Violet was about to say something, but her eyes widened as she saw her father and his girlfriend being lead to their table. "Oh shit," she sharply hissed.

"Excuse me," Emily sternly warned.

"Your cousin's following me," Violet said, keeping her eyes glued on the man.

"What's going on?" Ellen questioned.

Violet looked to her. "My father ran away from my mother and I. Now he's over there with that hussy he picked up. Never said goodbye, never acknowledged my birthday or anything. He just ignores my very existence," she explained. "You have parent issues?"

"My mom told me she wished I would've been a boy," Ellen replied. "Every birthday, right after she asks me where my husband and kids are," she added.

"Rough," Violet replied.

"Bob here was the favorite," Ellen informed her, motioning to him.

Violet blankly looked over to Bob. "Congratulations," she flatly told him.

"You can be my favorite," Scott offered.

"Thanks," Violet said, turning to kiss him on the cheek. When she pulled back, she smirked to him. "You think you could help me do something?" she requested.

"Uh, Violet, I uh, I really think that you should just show him you don't need him," Bob interjected. He could tell that this was about to end badly.

Violet looked to Bob. "I really wish I could, but after everything, I really can't."

"What were you thinking of doing?" Ellen questioned.

"He keeps his condoms in his wallet," Violet stated as she stared to her father. "If I could get over there and cause a scene, you could probably grab the wallet out of his pocket and no one would notice."

"I don't know, I'm not that quick," Scott admitted.

Howard was about to talk, but Ellen grabbed his hand, signaling for him to stop. "I don't mind the whole let's cause a scene. I just don't think you should take anything, stooping to something illegal doesn't make you any better of a person," Ellen explained.

"Another goody goody huh?" Violet inquired.

Ellen shrugged. "I'm single and childless against my mother's wishes," she offered.

Violet shook her head. "You don't know the half of my story. BEats the hell out of your's," she told her.

Bob looked over to Ellen and Howard. "Trust me, she's, she's right and you don't want to know it," he assured them.

Violet grabbed her purse and started to stand up, but Emily grabbed her hand. "Please Violet, not now," she pleaded. Her eyes desperately staring up to her.

Violet sighed. "You don't understand. I just can't sit here and let him go on having dinner with his girlfriend over there," she responded. Deep down, she was sorry to be doing this on Emily's night, but at the same time, the anger had been boiling up within her, just waiting for an outlet, and here it was. This was her chance and she needed to take it.

Emily, disappointed, let go of her hand.

Violet stood there a moment, pitifully looking to Emily before heading over to the table where her father sat. Scott remained in his seat. "Should I follow her?" he asked.

"Doesn't matter," Emily angrily sighed.

"Look, honey, maybe, maybe it won't be that bad," Bob suggested, hoping that there was a chance he was right.

Violet approached the table. Without any words exchanged, she grabbed the glass and dumped it onto her father's head.

"Violet!" he hissed. "I thought I told you...!"

Violet stood back, seething now. With tears forming in her eyes, she slapped him as hard as she possibly could. "When I was little you promised me that you would never leave me. What the hell ever to that huh? I guess it really doesn't matter what you say anymore now does it?" she replied, trying her hardest not to yell.

"I hate to tell you this, but things change," Peter responded.

"And assholes lie, I know," Violet scoffed. She went ahead and slapped him again before turning and dumping his girlfriend's drink all over her. "Enjoy your dinner."

Violet held her head up as the tears started falling. It didn't matter who saw, just as long as Peter didn't know she was crying. She stormed over to the table and was about to sit down in her seat.

"What is wrong with you?" Emily asked, keeping her voice lowered.

The waiter came over and stood before the table. "I am sorry miss, but we are going to have to ask you to leave. We had gotten complaints about your behavior," he announced.

Violet looked up and nodded. She expected this much. "Leaving now sir," she replied, standing.

"We're not done with this conversation," Emily nearly hissed.

Violet looked down to her. "You know what? I really don't give a damn. My own father tells me he never wants to see me again and I'm supposed to care about how disappointed you are with me? I'm sorry my shitty life had to interrupt your perfect little dinner," she said before turning and leaving with Scott.

Emily sat there just staring. "I wasn't aware of what her father told her," she mentioned. Now she bad.

"I uh, I probably should have told you a while ago," Bob confessed.

"You knew?"

"She's been talking to me," Bob informed her.

I have a question," Howard interrupted. "Who's getting the bill tonight?"

Bob just sighed. He knew somehow he would get stuck with it no matter what he said.

oooo

Emily cautiously opened the door that lead out to the balcony. "Violet?" She looked down and saw Violet sitting in the corner. There was a half full glass and a joint in her hand. She was about to yell at her, but it was no use. Not now anyways.

Violet laughed at the look of disbelief. "Little miss Violet got herself caught again," she said and then shook her head. "Oh well. You were about to yell at me for that precious little dinner I ruined anyways. Must be nice when your biggest problems consist of whether or not you get the perfect opportunity to tell your friends about the baby."

Emily crossed her arms as she looked down to her. "Believe it or not, I came out here to apologize. I wasn't aware of what Peter had told you," she confessed.

Violet softly laughed. "The last thing you need to be is sorry," she replied, looking up to her with glossy, bloodshot eyes. "You my friend are about to have a baby. That said baby will most likely not even know what drugs are until they happen to somehow hear about them from the other kids in high school. You're child is going to be a perfect little angel. That said baby is going to come home from school everyday to see mommy and daddy getting along and everything's gonna be perfect," she bitterly spat. Violet stopped for a second and took a deep breath, trying to hold in her tears. "I used to come home. I would come home to one of my parents there, and the other gone. They would fight and they would ignore me."

Emily stood there, ready to cry herself. "Violet," she began, not really sure what to say at this point.

Violet bit her lip. "W-would you believe that I didn't know about my period when it happened? My mother never took the time to explain that to me. In school they explain it in the eighth grade, I happened to be in the sixth. I thought I was dying. My mom laughed at me when I came to her with this concern. All she did was hand me a tampon. I wasn't even sure what to do with it at first. I also had to buy my first bra on my own with the money that I stole from her. That was, that was different."

"I-I'm sorry," Emily responded.

"Stop saying that," Violet snapped before taking a sip. "I don't need sympathy from the perfect people."

"Okay."

Violet's look softened. "I just hope you don't lose your baby. Even if I am jealous of it, I would hate to see you lose it," she explained and then took a puff. "The pain. Then all that blood. So much blood. The blood of your dead baby. No woman should ever have to go through that," she informed her, starting to cry even harder. She pulled her legs up to her chest as she rested her head against the wall beside her.

"Oh my God," Emily gasped. Now she really didn't know what to say to her. This was something pretty big. She leaned over and grabbed the cup and joint out of her hand, dropping the joint and stepping on it. She then set the glass on the table. "Come on, let's get you inside," she said, offering her hands.

She helped Violet to her feet and then guided her through the glass doors. Emily closed the door behind them and looked to see Bob standing there, watching them.

Bob was about to ask if everything was okay, but he was pretty sure that he got his answer. "What, what happened?" he implored.

Violet heard Bob and then looked up to him. Without thinking about it, she went over and wrapped her arms around him, tightly holding on as she buried her head in his chest.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Chances

Bob walked Violet into the den and helped her down onto the bed. She was able to walk, but she was begin to stagger and he wanted to make sure that she made it to the bed without hurting herself. Violet laid down and he proceeded to cover her with the blanket. He looked over her for a moment before leaving.

"Bob?" Violet called to him.

"Y-yes?" Bob asked, stopping and turning back to her.

"I saw Peter today," she told him. Her glossy eyes staring to him as she started slurring her speech. For one of the first times since she had been there, she looked vulnerable. She was hurt and she was showing how truly hurt she was now.

"I, I know. I was there," he reminded her. He caught onto the fact that she called him Peter instead of her father. To him, that was a good sign, it was a small step to getting over him, allowing herself to not need him.

Violet just continued to watch him. She didn't look as if she had registered what he had said. Taking the hint, Bob turned and started towards the doorway.

"Why doesn't he want me?" she gently implored.

Bob stopped. Slowly, he turned back to see Violet laying there, intently watching him. She was anxiously awaiting his answer. "I, I uh, I don't think it's that he doesn't want you. He just uh, he just wants to leave behind your mother, and it's, it's hard to do that while looking at the child he had with, with her. He can't look at you without, uh thinking of her, so he thinks the only way to move on from her, is uh, is to get rid of you," he answered. Although he really did think what he was saying was true, he couldn't be all that certain without talking to him.

This whole thing made him realize something though. He never wanted to do this to his own child. He was still scared, and he was hesitant to become a father, but there was no way that he could ever abandon his kid. Before this, he knew that he would never hurt his kid, he would love them and be a father to them no matter how he felt. But now, he knew that if he ever came close to hurting them, he would instantly regret it. There was no way that he could even think of hurting them.

Violet softly laughed as she sat up, pulling her knees up to her chest. "You know, I, I used to be what you would call a goody two shoes," she confessed. "I, I, I was the, the perfect child. My mother would drag me around, with her and her friends and we would go places," she started and then looked to Bob, he smile fading. "I used to, to look at those people and say, Valerie, you're not them. And dammit, I wasn't. You see? I used to be, good. I got good grades, I cared. But, my, my mother still just dragged me around, and uh, Peter, he would tell me these things. He, he told me, that, he cared, but he would do nothing. Even, even when I was good, my parents didn't care!"

Violet started to smirk. "See? That's when I realized, it doesn't matter! Most people don't like their kids when they're bad, but mine didn't even like me when I was good! They, they weren't going to like me no matter what! I could do what ever the hell I wanted!" she explained to him. "My mom fucking that man, and Peter leaving, it showed me just how much they didn't care. It showed me that I didn't have to care."

Bob knew that this was the worst time to be trying to talk to her. She was drunk and high and most likely not even hearing anything he had to say. At the same time though, he felt compelled to tell her that she shouldn't let her parent's life ruin her's. He decided though, it would be best to wait. "Vi-Violet? How uh, how about we wait until tomorrow to talk about this?" he offered.

"I told your wifey over there somethin' that I shouldn't have told her," Violet announced. "Tell her I over did the bloody part. There wasn't that much blood, just enough to know."

Bob looked to her with concern. "What?" he questioned. She was going on about something and he couldn't clearly comprehend what she was trying to tell him. All he knew was that it had something to do with blood.

Violet just shook her head and laid back down in bed. "Never mind," she replied. "My mom said no anyways. The one time that she stepped up, that selfish bitch. No one else mattered. Not me, not Kathy and Frank, no one," she added.

Bob was about to ask who those people are, but he saw her starting to drift off to sleep. He turned off the light and headed out through the living room to the bedroom.

"Emily?" he implored.

Emily sat on the edge of the bed, her hand over her abdomen. Her face was pale, eyes widened with concern. Quickly, her head turned to look to him. "I'm fine," she attempted to convince him. "She was just talking about losing a baby, and," she started, but couldn't finish. Tears started falling from her eyes.

Bob went and sat down next to her, putting his arm around her. Now what Violet said made a little more sense to him. "You haven't lost it, have you?" he implored, more to prove a point.

Emily shook her head. It just bothered her, it disturbed her. "What if I do?" she whimpered. It was as if she were telling her about the most likely outcome. It took a long time to just get to this point. She hadn't sat down and gone through all of the 'what if?'s. From the moment she found out she is pregnant, she just assumed that everything would be all right. Maybe here and there she had her tiny doubts, but she never stuck on them.

The only true concern she had at the beginning was how Bob was going to handle this. How was he going to feel about the baby? After he showed her, she was fine. That was it. That had to be the hardest part.

Now, she was stuck with this mental image that she couldn't shake. The blood. Her dead baby. Violet may not have been aware of what she was doing, but she had hit a very sensitive nerve. If she had the reassurance there nothing was going to go wrong, she might be okay with what she said. She would still be disturbed, but she would be able to wave it off as just Violet being drunk and morbid.

Bob sighed. "Look, honey, first, you, you really need to just calm down," he stated. "You're going to be fine. Violet's not uh not really at her best right now. She was just rambling on. Okay?" he assured her. He didn't want to tell her that there was no way that Violet was right. It was stupid, but he wasn't about to jinx the baby by saying she wouldn't lose it.

"You didn't answer my question," she sharply pointed out to him. She needed to know his answer. She desperately needed him to tell her it was going to be all right, and the fact that he wasn't telling her made her that much more sacred. If he just told her the baby will be okay, the baby will be born without any proof what so ever, she would feel better.

"If, if you lose it, I'll still be here. We can try again," he reassured her.

"Just replace it?" she bitterly asked, looking to him with disgust. At that point, he might as well of just told her that they could go and steal another baby and it would be just the same.

That was his indication to be more careful with his words. "There is no reason right now, that, that anything should happen to this baby. You care too much. You're taking care of yourself," he said, trying to make up for what he told her. That much, was true. He tell her that with confidence without having to worry about backfire. But, at the same time, just because everything should be fine, didn't mean it was going to remain fine.

Emily's look softened. Now, she just looked more scared and tired than anything. Instead of saying anything, she just rested her head on his shoulder. There was nothing left to say. She could see it in his eyes that he was starting to go through the list of things that could go wrong. Right now, his presence was enough to comfort her. There was no reason to start freaking him out too.

Oooo

Violet woke up the next morning. Her head hurt, but it wasn't too bad. The worst part though? She remembered most of last night. Sometimes, at least to her, that was worse than passing out and being completely hungover the next day.

Slowly, she sat up and sighed. She didn't want to go out there and see them. She knew that she freaked Emily out, more than she should have. That was one of the first times that she had felt bad over what she had done. She knew she hurt Emily, but she wasn't completely sure of what all she said. All she knew was that it had to do with the baby and that she felt guilty, and a little embarrassed. As for what she said to Bob, she really didn't know. She knew that he was the one to help her to bed, and that she mentioned her father, but that was it.

With hesitance, she pulled herself out of bed and got ready for the day. The longer she could take in there, the better.

Once she was done though, she had to go out there. She carefully walked out into the living room and saw Emily on the couch reading. "Emily?"

Emily turned and looked to her. "Good afternoon," she coldly stated.

Violet stayed her distance. "About last night," she began.

Emily sighed. "Let's see, you caused a scene at dinner, you came here, stole our alcohol, got drunk, and some how managed to get a hold of pot and get high out on our balcony," she stated.

Violet nodded. "Believe it or not, I know. I also know that I told you some things that I shouldn't have told you. I'm sorry," she said.

Emily sighed. "Come here," she instructed. She was starting to get annoyed with Violet acting like she was afraid of her.

Violet went ahead and joined her on the couch. "Yeah?"

"Do you remember what you said to me?" Emily inquired. Right now, she was a little more concerned with that than the drug and alcohol use. Those could wait until after this.

Violet shrugged. "I know I talked about the baby and I know you didn't like it," she answered.

"You weren't talking about me losing mine, were you?" Emily questioned.

Violet softly laughed. "No offense or anything, but you must know that I talk to your husband, and I would rather talk to him than I would you," she explained. This was one area of her life that she could not handle any judgement over, and there was no doubt in her mind that Emily was about to judge her for this.

"You don't think I deserve an explanation?" Emily implored.

Violet sighed. "Okay, it was mine. About five months ago, I lost a baby," she announced. She waited for Emily to speak, but all she did was look to her with some odd mixture of disappointment and pity. "And this is the part where you tell me that I shouldn't have been pregnant in the first place. I say it doesn't matter, there's a lot of things I did that I shouldn't have doen. You asked what was wrong with me running around with my boyfriend. I say I thought he loved me. You say, you're just a kid, you shouldn't have been making those types of choices. You're a kid yourself, you're not ready for a baby. And I say, it's not like a I was going to keep the kid anyways, I knew a couple that wanted a baby. You say..."

"You're right, you shouldn't have been running around in the first place. You're just a kid," Emily interrupted. "And you're right, I don't understand. I don't understand why you insist on ruining your own life in order to prove a point to your parents," she added.

Violet sighed. "If you're referring to the baby, that was going to be the one thing that showed me that maybe things did matter," she admitted. "I was going to have it, and I was going to give it to a couple that I knew couldn't have their own, but desperately wanted one. They were the first people I talked to when I found out about the baby. I was going to give them a good home, I was going to be able to visit here and there and I was going to be able to actually do something good for someone else. I know its wrong, but I was about to live vicariously through him and that was how it was going to be. He was my chance to see that not everything is all bad, and my mother took that away from me," she informed her.

"He?" Emily asked. She was a little shocked. Now she was starting to wonder how far along she was when she lost it.

Violet caught onto her concern. "I was only a few months when I lost it, but I figure if there is a God, there is no way that he would ever put those poor people through the hell of giving them a girl like me," she replied. "Besides, I used to baby sit a little boy that I thought was adorable."

"I'm sorry," Emily said.

Violet shook her head as she softly began to laugh. "Why? According to you I'm just a stupid kid who got herself in trouble. You said that baby was going to ruin my life didn't you? I mean, it's pretty hypocritical of you to feel sorry for my loss while at the same time feeling it's presence was one of the worst things that could happen to me," she responded.

"I never said it was the worst thing that could happen to you!" Emily argued. "You're right, I don't think you should have gotten yourself into that position in the first place, but I know you get attached to the baby. I would be devastated if I lost mine," she explained. "I know the whole thing couldn't have been easy for you."

Violet sat there, staring down towards her lap. What she wasn't going to tell Emily was that she deserved her baby more. She was the good one, she lead a good life, her parents wanted her. Violet knew that things she did were wrong, and while most of the time she didn't care, there were sometimes that she started to wonder. One of the main times that she really wondered was when she lost the baby. She didn't know about it at first, she got drunk, she would smoke cigarettes and weed, she even dropped acid. Even though she was certain her mother had caused the miscarriage, she wondered if she deserved it.

That was the first time that her choices had a bad affect on someone else, and she truly cared about it. She looked up to Emily. "Lets say you're having a girl. You baby girl grows up, and then at seventeen, comes home and tells you that she is pregnant. She's already made arrangements to give the baby away and she's scared and she's alone because her boyfriend and her friends want nothing to do with her. How do you react?" she implored.

Emily just thought for a second. "Well, at first, I would be furious. I would ask her what the hell I thought she was doing, and how she could have been so stupid. I would tell her about how she's ruining her life, and how disappointed I am in her. After I calm down though, which would take a while, I would make sure that she knew I still loved her, and that I'm still here for her. I would also tell her that I'm glad she decided to give it up," she thoughtfully answered.

"Every bit of your reaction is out of concern for her, right?" Violet inquired.

"Yes," she answered, wondering where she was going with this.

Violet nodded. "My mom's was all about how she was going to look to the neighbors. I went in, told her about the baby while she was making dinner. I kid you not, with no emotion what so ever, she turned to me and told me that I was going to get rid of that thing no matter what before I started showing so that people wouldn't talk about her," she told her. "At least you were worried about your daughter."

Emily looked to her with sympathy. "Are you sure? I mean, I just want to make sure that you heard her right, that you weren't just hearing something because you were upset," she explained.

"No, I'm sure of what happened. Mom has always been concerned with herself. Every time the police will bring me home, she'll ask me about my future and then turn it around and tell me about how my future reflects her. It's always the same story with her," she reassured. "I swear, that woman once told me how the Vietnam war was over her, and it made her look bad when she went to other countries," she stated.

"Emily!" Howard called out as he swung open the door. He walked over towards the couch. "Ellen's coming over and the shirt that she got me has a hole in it," he informed her, holding up his sleeve and showing her.

Emily softly laughed as she went to get her sowing kit. "I'll have it fixed in a minute Howard," she assured him.

Violet positioned herself on the couch to face him. "Hi Mr. Borden," she greeted. "Dinner go well last night?"

"Oh yeah," Howard answered. "Did you know that Emily is going to have a baby?"

Violet nodded. "I was the one that thought she was pregnant in the first place," she told him. "I've been here the whole time," she reminded him.

"Oh yeah, that's right," he responded.

"And when you see Ellen tonight, tell her that I feel better after causing a scene with my father last night," she requested.

"Why did you do that?" he asked.

"He told me he didn't want me, so I got back at him," she answered. And really, she felt as if maybe, she had gotten back at him. There was no way that she cared to ever see him again in her life.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The Trick is to Keep Breathing

Violet lay on her bed as she examined the tips of her hair. She was thinking back to when she was fourteen years old, a freshman in high school. By the way that times had changed, it felt like more than three years had passed. She remembered a particular conversation.

_Violet sat with her three friends, Emma, Alyssa, and Carrie. They sat at the lunch table talking about what they were going to do this weekend. _

"_I really don't care whether or not any of you come with me, I'm just putting the invitation out there," Emma informed them. _

"_No offense, but I won't no anyone there, so, no," Carrie responded. _

"_Same," Alyssa added. _

_Violet shrugged. "I'm sorry, I thought we were attending this building to do something with our lives besides drink it away and waking up next to random men," she remarked. "I got better things to do." _

_Emma laughed. "Of course you do," she replied. _

_Violet smirked to her. "I'm trying to get out of this shitty town someday so I don't have to deal with people like you telling people like me that I need to go get wasted and fucked to convince myself that I might be having a good time," she responded. _

"_I don't think she wants to go," Carrie said. _

"_Hey, I don't mind you not wanting to go, I'm just wondering what you have against going out," Emma stated. _

_Violet sighed. "Well, alcohol makes you act like a retard, drugs make you unaware of how retarded you are, and both make you forget all the idiotic things you've done. Idiotic men in some cases. I'm just not interested," she explained. She was afraid of becoming like her parents. She needed something important to focus on, and she needed to get away from here. Becoming like her parents was not an option. _

"_I think I wanna stay here," Emma informed them. _

"_Why?" Alyssa inquired. _

"_Seriously, when we grow up, we're supposed to get out, that's how it works," Carrie argued. _

_Violet just sat there and thought to herself. The only one here that knew about her home life was Carrie. No one else had to know. She wasn't about to use any of that in her defense and end up getting pitied. _

"_I think it's just safe to say that I'm not going to ruin life while I'm in high school, or college, or after that because of stupid little meaningless parties," Violet announced. _

Violet sat up and sighed. That was the old her, apparently. It didn't take long for her to change either. Her father left shortly after and she said decided to do whatever she wanted. To this day though, she was still trying to decide whether or not that was a bad idea. She had made more friends since, Carrie was still her best friend and she and Emma were a bit closer for a while.

In the way she saw it, she used to be fearless, and now, she was scared of everything. She used to have dreams and never once thought about failing. She used to work towards something. Now, she always thought about how things could go wrong and figured it best not to try. She didn't care anymore. As long as she was having fun, it was okay. There was no need to try for something and face disappointment.

This was beginning to bother her, she was thinking too much. It was time to get back out into the rest of the apartment. Bob would be home in a little bit, so Emily was most likely getting dinner ready. Maybe she could help with it, anything to distract her for a little bit.

"Hi Violet," Emily greeted as Violet stepped out into the living room.

Violet looked up and forced a smile. "What's ya doing?" she implored. She walked over to the counter and leaned against it as she watched Emily get a salad ready.

"Getting dinner ready," she answered.

"Do you need any help?" Violet offered.

"No, I'm almost done," Emily answered.

Violet nodded. "Okay then," she replied as she pushed herself off the counter.

Emily looked over to her as she started to make her way back to the den. "Why are you jealous?" she called, causing Violet to stop. She knew, she just needed to make sure. She wanted to make sure that what she heard last night was true and not just alcohol induced over dramatization.

Violet laughed as she turned to Emily. "You blind?" she questioned. "Your baby gets both a mom and a dad who actually care about it. I barely got one parent to care for me at times. You do the math," she said.

"I'm sure your mom loves you just a little bit," Emily assured her.

Violet shook her head. "I used to be naïve enough to believe that too," she responded and then continued to the den.

Emily sighed. She was curious about this girl. There was a lot that she did not understand and she really did want to help. "I'm not judging you you know," she tried calling out to her.

Violet stepped back out into the living room and offered her a slightly condescending smirk. "How could you not?" she inquired, crossing her arms. "You just found me completely screwed up out on your balcony where I told you about the baby I almost had. If you were a little less, you, maybe I would believe that."

Emily looked to her, taking offense in what she said. "What's that supposed to mean?" she implored. "If I was a little less me."

"I'm not trying to offend you. I'm just saying that you obviously grew up in a different setting. I mean, I was introduced to drugs at the age of five. I found acid hidden in my closet. The shoes that I rarely ever wore, my mom took that box and hid her stuff in it," she explained. "I highly doubt your parents were hiding their drugs in your bedroom."

Emily was shocked by what she had heard, and angered. "Did you know what it was at the time?" she asked.

Violet slightly laughed. "I found out after I tried eating it. Thank God my mom got there before I ate more than one tablet. She was mad though because she had to sit there and watch me that night instead of being able to leave me with the babysitter and going out. Most likely, she was coming in my room to get her stuff to go over to her friend's house," she replied. She looked to Emily and dropped her arms. "Oh yeah, and if you were ever considering trying that stuff, don't. That freaking little thing lasted all night. The worst thing ever, I felt like I was in a constant nightmare but I couldn't wake up from it because I already was up. It sucked."

"Hey honey," Bob said as he walked in the door.

Emily and Violet both turned to look to him. "Hi Bob," Emily replied, forcing a smile to him.

He looked back and forth between the two. "Something going on here?" he asked.

"I'm telling your wifey about the drugs I tried when I was five," Violet informed him.

"Sounds about right," Bob sighed. "And uh, I, I wanted to talk to you today. You said a few things last night and had, had a few questions that I wanted to wait to talk about," he told her.

Violet looked to him, perplexed for a moment. She wondered what could have been so concerning. "Okay," she obliged, turning and walking into the den.

"I'll be back out in a minute," Bob told Emily as he walked towards her, stopping to plant a quick kiss on her lips.

"All right," she replied. "Dinner won't be done for a few minutes anyways."

Bob headed back to the den and saw Violet sitting on the bed with her legs crossed, waiting for him. "Caio. Come stai?" Violet greeted.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," Violet replied, a little disappointed. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well," Bob said as he took a seat in the chair. "You were trying to ask me why your father didn't want you."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"You don't actually need to give me an answer, I already know," Violet explained.

"Why, why uh, did he not want you?" he inquired.

"Easy, I was the unwanted burden in his life. My mom would leave me alone with him at times, a lot of times and she would be gone a long time. He got tired of taking care of me. I remember he even told me once that he wished she would stay home more so that he wouldn't be stuck with me," she informed him.

"Are, are you sure that's how he said it? I mean, he, he could just be trying to get away from your mother right now. I'm sure seeing you reminds him of her. He, he associates you with her and can't stand it," he explained.

"No," Violet replied. "I remember when I was ten," she began.

_Violet sat at the table, an envelope sitting before her on the table. She sat there, a smile on her face as she waited for one of her parents to walk into the room. The first one, was her father. _

"_Hi dad," she greeted. _

"_Hi," he quickly replied. What Violet didn't know was that he had just had a fight with Nora earlier that day about how often she was gone. He went straight to the fridge and grabbed a beer. _

"_I got this today," she happily announced, grabbing the envelope and holding it out to him. _

"_What is it?" Peter questioned. _

"_Well, its either a warrant for my arrest, or its my grades," she told him. _

_Peter huffed as he grabbed the letter and opened it. He skimmed through it. "All A's. Good," he told her. _

_Violet smiled. She liked hearing that word. Good. It was nice. _

"_Now maybe you can get out of here sooner and go away to college. That way I don't have to put up with this for much longer," he mumbled as he walked out of the room. _

_Violet heard what he said. Instead of saying something though, she just sat there and looked down to her lap. Her eyes watered, but she choked back the tears. _

"It's funny, when I was little he told me everything was going to be okay. When I grew up a little, he stopped saying it. He stopped caring," she stated.

Bob thought a moment. He wasn't about to come up with reasons as to how her father could have just been preoccupied with something else. There was no way he could tell her that and not feel guilty. He didn't want to tell her the wrong thing. There was no way for him to know what was going on with her parents.

"You, you know, even if your parents don't care for you, there are always other people that do. There, there are people out there that, that want to see you succeed," he told her.

Violet laughed. "I thought even a fake doctor could realize how selfish people are," she remarked.

"What uh makes you think that everyone is selfish?" he questioned.

Violet stood up and sighed. "Well, the obvious you know? I mean, have you been listening to me? My mom, Peter," she responded as she paced over to the other side of the room. She stopped and turned back to him. "Did I tell you I had a miscarriage within the past year? That's what I was telling Emily about last night apparently," she mentioned.

"You didn't tell me," he replied. Right now, he was more upset with her parents than anything.

"Well, I did. That was about the time I found out how much people can not care. The night I found out, I went and told my boyfriend. He called me a whore and denied that it was his baby. As a matter of fact, some of my friends agreed with him. Anyways, I went and talked to a couple that I knew couldn't have their own and wanted one. I said they could have mine if they worked out all the legal stuff. Then, I went and told my mom. She said she would make sure I got rid of it. It was the next night that she allowed me to borrow the car to run up to an area that I wasn't all too familiar with myself to get a few things she needed. The car that was perfectly fine broke down and I got lost. Then, the next night, she made me dinner and right after was when I started feeling sick," she told him.

Violet stopped and looked up to see how he was taking this so far. "Well, I went upstairs to bed and laid down. I passed out for a little bit. When I woke up though, I felt the worst pain I had ever felt before in my stomach. I, I didn't know what to do. I juts laid there and cried. Then, I noticed the blood," she said before letting the tears fall. "I might be paranoid, but I'm pretty certain that my mom was behind the car and the loss of my baby," she confessed.

"Why would your mom want to get rid of, of the baby so bad if you already had parents lined up?" he implored.

"Because Nora Harrison couldn't handle any one seeing her pregnant daughter walk out the door, looking like she swallowed a basket ball and wondering where she went wrong with me!" she snapped. "She was the one that was stupid enough to lock me out of the house when I stayed out too late and sent me to stay the night at my boyfriend's house. I mean, that's really no excuse, but she still shouldn't have locked me out. She shouldn't have tried to lose me and she sure as hell shouldn't have killed my baby," Violet venomously informed him.

Violet sighed as she walked back over and sat down on the bed. "I used to be, nice. I used to have some innocence to me, and my mom took that little bit of niceness I had and crushed it. Her and Peter did everything they could to take it and destroy it. I would try hard in school, I would try being daddy's little princess and mommy's little angel but neither of them wanted anything to do with me. They went out of their way to screw my life up. The way I see it, I just saved them a lot of time and effort," she told him.

"Vi-Violet? I'm sorry that you had to lose your baby, and, and I'm sorry that your parents neglect you. But, but this is getting you no where. It doesn't really hurt your parents at this point, and uh, and all it does is hurt you. Why don't you think of this as, as game? You're losing it, and I don't think you want to. I think you can win if you just start realizing that, that you are better than this. You don't need your parent's approval and you don't them," he offered.

Violet softly smiled, acknowledging his effort. "I wish it were that easy," she replied.

_~To my cousin~ _


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: For Everything a Reason (part 1)

Bob and Emily sat up in bed together. "I'm worried about Violet," Emily admitted. She had been thinking about their conversation.

Bob looked over to her. "The drugs?" he questioned. He knew there was more to it, but there had to have been something brought up today.

"Not just that," she answered and then looked to him with worry. "Everything she talks about has to do with drugs or sex," she explained. "She even told me something today that really disturbed me."

"W-what did she tell you?"

"She told me that she had a miscarriage herself not too long ago and that Nora wanted to make sure that she got rid of the baby," she informed him.

He looked to her a moment and sighed. "I, I know. She's been telling me a lot lately," he responded, thinking back on some of the things she said about Peter. "I really don't uh, don't think you should be talking to her about this stuff though. The last thing you need is, is to be getting yourself worked up," he advised her.

"She told me that she was jealous of our baby," she mentioned, not sure whether to be happy that someone thinks they would make parents, or more concerned for Violet. She felt both and it was confusing.

Bob shrugged. To him, it was obvious. "Why wouldn't she be?" he inquired. "I mean, think about it. You're, you're out there making plans to announce that you're pregnant. You're happy and excited," he began. "I wasn't there, but, but the way she talks about her parents, I don't think they planned on having her, and I think she's picked up on that."

Emily looked to him, soaking in what he had said. She nodded, lowering her head. She understood, she just didn't like thinking about it. All this time, she had been trying to get pregnant, failing and here are these parents that don't even deserve a kid and they get pregnant and then take it out on their own child.

"She's probably jealous of you too," Bob mentioned. He had heard her mention how innocent Emily was a few times about sheltered she must have been.

Bob saw that he got his wife's attention as she looked back up to him. "You're, you have the life that she wants, but, but thinks she can't have," he explained. He wanted to make sure that Emily knew why she was a little cold towards her at times. Maybe if she understood, she wouldn't get upset or worked up over it. "You're parents still love you, her's don't want her. You're parents didn't keep drugs around the house. You, you get to have your baby while she lost her's, and, and everyone's happy for you," he told her. "You got the, the good outcome of everything bad that ever happened to her."

Emily just looked to him with concern. "I hate to say it, but I don't know if I really believe all of that. I mean, the first day the girl shows up she tries to pierce her ears. She goes out of her way to find ways to get our skin," she responded. She truly did feel bad for saying that, but it was true. All her stories just sounded so far fetched to her. Most of all, they kept getting more and more disturbing. It was like she was trying to see how far she could go before someone called her out on her stories. "I knew her parents growing up, and I know that they were a bit self centered. They were always selfish and slightly needy, but I never thought they could be as bad as she puts them out to be."

"Even if she is exaggerating, there, there's still gotta be some sort of truth behind what's she saying. Either its the way she perceives it, or, or its a cry for attention because of the things going on that she's not telling you," Bob explained to her. He did believe her, but even if the stories were just that, stories, there had to be something behind them.

"She scares me Bob," Emily confessed.

"I know, the way she dresses she, she looks like she's the leader of the fun at funerals club," he mentioned.

"I'm serious Bob, how bad do you think you have to mess up before a child becomes like that?"

Bob reached over and put his around her, pulling her closer to him. "Emily, you, you personally don't have to worry about that. I, I can't see you ever messing up a child," he assured her.

Emily smiled. She turned and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you," she said.

"Sure," he said, starting to wonder about himself. He knew that she could easily be a good mother, but what about him? He already started off bad by not wanting the baby. Where did that leave him as a father?

Ooo

Violet walked out to see Bob, Emily, Howard, and Ellen all gathered for breakfast. "Would you look at that? The gang from Mayberry decided to hold a meeting this morning," she remarked, walking trudging towards the table and plopping down in the seat between Bob and Ellen. "So what are you hellraisers up to this morning?"

"What's a hellraiser?" Howard asked.

Violet just looked to him for a second. "Anyways," she said, looking to Bob.

"Hey, how have you been? The last time I saw you was when you made embarrassed your dad," Ellen inquired.

Violet turned to her smirking. "I regret nothing from that night," she told her.

"Really?" Emily questioned as she carried her plate out from the kitchen.

Violet looked to her, guilt in her eyes. "I'm sorry, would my regret change the events that occurred?" she quipped. She did feel bad about what she said to Emily that night, but at the same time, no one was going to make her feel any different about what she did at that restaurant.

"No," Emily sighed.

"It was like that time I hung out with Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Grace Slick. My mom and her friend wanted to see if they could get back stage, and they did. I stayed there while they all smoked, got higher than a kite that night, but it was all worth it," Violet informed them. She then looked to Howard and sweetly smiled. "See, I got messed up that night, and I really didn't feel good. But because I got to meet and hang out with those three, it was worth it."

"All, all three of them?" Bob asked.

"Well, you know that Grace and Janis were friends. It was during the time that Jim and Grace were dating," she explained.

"You're serious?" Ellen implored. She was intrigued that someone this young could have met more famous people than herself.

"Of course. My mother was a wanna be hippy. She dragged me around a lot when Peter got tired of her leaving me there with him. I've seen the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan. I've met some of these people. Met a lot of weirdos too, you know, the ones that ask girls, even young girls to do very inappropriate things in exchange for any various drugs they might have. Or the other way around you know, offer something completely out there for a gram or two," Violet explained. "Guess they hadn't quite caught on to the concept of free love yet."

Howard's head jerked up to Bob. "Speaking of free love," he started.

"Howard, I don't think you understood," Ellen warned. She and Howard were thinking of moving in together. This wasn't the time to tell Bob though.

Bob just glared towards Howard. "I'll uh, I'll ask you about that later," Bob told him.

Violet laughed. "I bet you will," she muttered.

"You're parents really took you along like that?" Ellen asked.

Violet nodded. "You bet. Best parents out there aren't they?"

"I don't really care for my mother either," Ellen admitted.

"Yeah, you told me about that. You ever do anything to get back at her?" Violet questioned. "Because I really got back at mine."

"Violet," Emily warned. This was not the time nor place to be discussing her sex habits.

"Well, she did have me married with a few sons by now," Ellen said.

Violet looked her over, smiling. "She wanted housewife, so you became a career chick. Nice," she replied. "I think it's more important to prove a point though. Show them exactly where they went wrong and make them feel just like they made you feel. No remorse and no regret."

"I can't go that far. I just try to let my parents fade out of my life," Ellen responded. She was a little worried over the look that came across Violet's face while she was talking.

"You're weak," Violet told her. It was ironic, considering that she had felt that she herself was the weak one. She was the one that crumbled.

"I'm weak because I refuse to go out and hurt myself over some petty fighting?" Ellen asked.

Violet sat back and looked to her, no expression. "You're weak because you refuse to fight back. Second, don't call anything in my life petty," she sternly warned.

"Vi, Violet? Bob called to her. "Do you think what uh, what you did was strong?"

Violet just turned and looked to him. What was she supposed to say to that? Yes? It took guts to have sex in her mother's bed? "I did what I had to do," she answered.

The table fell quiet. Violet looked up at Emily. Either she wasn't feeling well or she really was upset with her. "If you're having a problem with me, just tell me. No one else has ever held anything back," she told her.

Emily sighed. She was particularly edgy this morning and in no mood for this. "I think you're being dumb," she bluntly announced. "You're ruining your life to prove a point to people who sound like they don't even care."

Violet sighed. Honestly? At one point she thought maybe they would start to care. That was only a brief little time though, and it was proven wrong.

"Wow," Howard commented. He stood up and looked down to Ellen. "You wanna come back to my place with me?" he offered. He could see the look on Violet's face and knew that he was going to be asked to leave anyways. Ellen obliged and they thanked Emily for the food before leaving.

"D-did you have anything to say to that?" Bob implored.

Violet thought that she might as well be honest. "I cared when they stopped caring, so I thought if I went long enough without caring, they might," she quietly responded before getting up and leaving the room.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: For Everything a Reason (part 2)

Violet sat down on the bed in the den. There were a few pictures spread out before her. Her memories that she carried with her. These, before her now, were the only moments preserved in her life that she found worth remembering, the only high points in her life.

Thinking back on those memories though, was bittersweet. Yes, there were fun times and it was nice to acknowledge them. At the same time though, it made it clear to her that she never had a chance. There weren't many parents out there that could be able to do the things they did to her, and still care. It just didn't work like that.

Why couldn't she have seen that a few years ago? Denial maybe? The fear of knowing that there really is no one out there who cares?

Nothing really made sense to her when it came to her home life.

"Violet?"

"Oh look, the stuttering shrink is here to tell me it'll be okay," Violet sighed, keeping her eyes on the photos. She just was not in the mood to hear it.

"I, I just wanted to make sure you're okay," Bob assured her. He stepped into the room and eyed the pictures.

Violet offered him a half smile as she turned to face him. "I'm always _fine_," she explained. She could see that he was looking at the pictures and decided to hand him one. "That's me with Morrison, Joplin, and Slick."

Bob took the picture and examined it. Jim Morrison sat in the corner of the couch, looking rather out of it with his arm around Grace Slick who was darkly smiling next to a laughing Janis Joplin. Violet sat on the table in front of them, a flower in her hair and holding a bowl in one hand and a lighter in the other. "Who, who took this?" he implored, concerned. She was just a little girl.

Violet grabbed the picture. "My lovely mother," she answered, exchanging the picture for another. "Ringo Starr was me first."

Bob, shocked, looked at the image of Ringo and Violet kissing. "A Beatle," he mentioned.

Violet smiled. "Yeah, I'm actually proud of that one. Thirteen years old and I kissed a Beatle. I've met Paul, he's nice, but I didn't get a picture."

Violet handed him yet another picture. This time, with Linda Blair. They were sitting next to each other on a fence on a dock. "Just hanging out. We were actually friends while she was still doing the commercials. I would run into her while my mother was running around everywhere. This though was after she did The Exorcist," she informed him.

Violet picked up another picture. This time, no one famous. No special event. It was just of her and two other friends sitting together on someone's back porch. Her face softened as she thought back to that day. That was how she celebrated her sixteenth birthday. She went over to someone else's house and spent time with her friends. It was actually one of the best days of her life. There was no family drama, if you could really call what she had a family. There were no major issues. It was just her and her friends.

Bob looked over and saw her face, the wishful thinking. "What, what happened there?" he inquired, setting the other picture down on the bed.

Violet handed him the photo. "Nothing actually," she answered with a smile. "That's why I like it."

Violet watched as he looked at it. "My mother had nothing to do with that day. There was no dragging me around, no bullshit about how she wanted my life to be exciting and she wanted to spend her time with me. Just my friends and I not worrying about anything at all," she explained.

Bob handed the photo back to her. "Would you consider any memories that contain your mother to be ruined, be, because she was there?" he asked.

Violet nodded. "Yeah actually. I would. Half of this shit would have been really amazing. I mean, come on, Ringo Starr? But, I know that my mother was there and I know that the only reason I was there was because Peter got sick of watching me. He thought of himself as more of a babysitter than a father," she bitterly responded.

Bob sat down on the edge of the bed. "Is there anything else you would like to add?"

Violet looked to him for a second, trying to decide whether or not she should go ahead and tell him what she was thinking. It was really very personal, something that she had thought about quite a few times.

Sighing, Violet nodded. "Most of the time, I wonder why my mother even had me. I mean, she obviously didn't want me. She could have given me up. Most days, I really wished that she would have," she started. Pausing to look to him with shame. Water forming in the rims of her eyes, just waiting to fall. "And then, there were times where I wouldn't have minded," she started, knowing that she would really have to force herself to get out the next part of what she had to say.

Bob had an idea of where she was going with this, but wanted to hear her say it. "You wouldn't have minded what?" he implored.

Violet offered a small laugh. "Well, what are some of the methods you've heard? I mean, she had her choices between throwing herself down the stairs, drugging herself, I'm sure you've heard of a drain-o margarita before, and then there's the most infamous coat hanger trick. I'm not saying I would ever end my life, but I'm also not saying that she made the right choice with keeping me," she told him. She folded her arms, darkly grinning. "From the moment she kept me, my sole purpose, my only real reason for living was to make her life a living hell," she told him. "I just didn't realize it until after the sperm donor left.

Bob was a little at loss for words here. He started to fidget a little as he decided to stall telling her anything at the moment. "Now, now uh, w-what do you plan on doing next?" he implored.

Violet shrugged. "I dunno," she replied, looking towards the ground. "Maybe run away or something."

"Well, if, if you really decide you can't go back there, you can uh," he stopped for a second. He knew what he was doing. Yes, he was saving a young girl, but he was also deciding to add to the stress of a new baby. It was still the right thing to do. He couldn't just send her back there and not feel guilty. Besides, it was one year. That was it. Not even a full year. "You can stay here," he finally offered.

Violet looked up and smirked to him. "No I can't."

"Why not?" he asked, surprised at the response.

Violet dropped her arms and stood to her feet. "Come on, you have a baby on the way, I'm a nuisance," she started as she began pacing the floor. "You," she started, twirling around to face him. "Also need time to adjust. This is the time for you and Emily to be together for the last few months that you can actually be alone. Besides, I take pride in the fact that I can manage. I don't need the Sesame Street gang here staring at me all wide eyed and full of ignorance every time I mention something. We come from completely different life styles, you can't expect me to adapt to your life and I could never expect you to fully understand mine," she explained.

Bob watched her as she slowly made her way back to the bed. "You, you may be able to manage, but, is that enough?" he questioned. To him, all that meant was being able to come home at night with out getting in trouble and with out getting hurt.

Violet stopped and stood before him. "Got me this far, so I think so," she responded. "And no offense, I'm probably better at managing myself out there than your child ever will be in the streets."

"I think I'm okay with that."

"I would be too," Violet stated. She smirked to him. "So, you gonna use me as your model to parenting. What not to do with your kid?"

Bob shook his head. "We're probably going to just rely on our instincts here," he began.

Violet laughed. "Don't bull shit me. I know I've opened your eyes to something here," she said.

Emily stepped into the room, looking worried. "Bob?" she called.

Both Bob and Violet looked over to Emily with concern. "Everything okay?" Bob implored, quickly standing.

"There's someone here," Emily grimly announced.

Violet sighed and looked over to Bob. "From the look on her face, its either gotta be my pimp or my dealer. Either way I'm gonna have to cough up the cash."

Bob just glared down to her.

"You're going to wish that once you see who's here," Emily replied.

Violet's face went blank. She apprehensively went and followed Emily back to the living room, wondering who it could be. "Mother," she flatly announced.

"Try and contain your excitement there," Nora sarcastically spat. She was sitting on the couch going through her purse. "I finished early, thought I might come by and get you. We'll leave tomorrow morning, I want your things packed."

Violet laughed. "Listen to that. Get an audience and she tries to sound like she has some sort of authority. How cute," she sneered.

Bob and Emily just stood there and exchanged looks. Tonight was not going to be fun.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Mommy Dearest

Howard and Ellen cuddled on the couch together, watching an old movie. It didn't really matter what was on though, they were just content with each other.

"I refuse to share my guestroom with that woman!" Violet angrily announced as she threw open the door.

Howard and Ellen both jumped and turned towards her. "Violet!" Howard said. "What are you doing here?" he implored.

"Is everything okay over there?" Ellen questioned, repositioning herself on the couch.

Violet looked to them with confusion. "I'm sorry, did I scare you two?"

Ellen nodded as she began to laugh. "Yes."

"Well Mr. Borden's always just barging in over there. I thought we had like free range between the apartments," Violet defensively argued. "Besides, I would rather be getting yelled at by you two than sit over there and listen to my mother talk about me."

"Why is it so bad that she's talking about you?" Howard questioned.

Violet went and took a seat, plopping down in the chair. Obviously, he hadn't quite caught on to the situation. "She's over there telling them how bad of a person I am."

"You're not going to defend yourself?" Ellen implored. She looked to her, surprised.

Violet just shook her head. "It's better to just not deal with her right now. I'm already having dinner with her tonight. I'll save my arguments for then," she explained. In the back of her head though, she did have to wonder, if maybe either Bob or Emily were currently sticking up for her. Maybe Bob more so than Emily.

"I still think you should defend yourself. Your mother needs to learn to respect you," Ellen explained.

Violet looked to her, wishing that that were possible. "You think you could come to dinner tonight and help me with that?" she requested.

Ellen sighed, shaking her head. "Sorry kid, I gotta go cover a story tonight. One of the candidates for city council is running a benefit. I was lucky enough to have someone trade me stories," she regretfully informed her. Even though she was excited to write about something more important than restaurant reviews, she also wanted to see how things worked out between Violet and Nora.

oooooo

The five sat at the table. Silence. That was all there was at the moment. The tension was nearly tangible as Violet and Nora slightly glared to each other from across the table. Even Howard knew it was best not to talk.

Nora sighed as she looked over to Emily. "This is really a nice dinner," she commented.

"Thank you Nora," Emily stiffly responded. She wasn't sure how to react right now. She could have sworn that Violet glared to her when she opened her mouth to talk.

"Yeah, you should take some lessons from her. You know, learn a few recipes that don't involve poison," Violet spat.

Nora raised her eyebrow. "You're paranoid! You know that?"

Violet sat back and smirked. "That's real funny coming from you," she replied.

"What are you trying to imply?" Nora questioned. She dropped her silver wear on the table and crossed her arms.

Bob uncomfortably looked to Howard. "See anything on tv lately?" he randomly asked off the top of his head.

"Nothing as good as this," Howard answered, watching the two to see what was going to happen next. He was the only one there that had no clue what was going on between these two.

"Oh dear, the neighbors might see you getting arrested. Oh dear, the neighbors might judge me when you come home pregnant," she mocked, showing her disgust.

"They already do!" Nora responded.

"Damn, maybe you should have thought about that before you slept with one of the neighbors!" Violet stated, standing up from her seat.

Nora copied her actions. "That was none of your business!" she nearly yelled.

"Because it obviously had no affect on my life!" Violet remarked. "You know, you keep talking about me ruining my life, how about you stop being a bitch and start being a mom for once in your life?"

"You spoiled little brat!" Nora hissed.

"Oh yeah, I'm real spoiled! That's why you locked me out of the house, which you probably regret the hell outta that decision don't you? That's also why you poisoned me. That's why I had to figured what bra size I wore on my own. Hell, I even had to teach myself what a period was! Yeah, you've definitely spoiled me rotten."

"First off, that door shouldn't have stopped you. Last I heard you were pretty good at getting in and out of windows. Second, I poisoned you because you decided to go out and be a stupid slut! And finally, you were such a baby over that! There was no reason to be that hysterical. You need to seriously grow up," she defended herself.

Violet stood there, mouth agape as she looked ready to cry. "So, you finally admit it huh? You really did put something in my food that night?" she implored.

"Yes I did, and I'm glad I did it," Nora announced.

"You bitch," Violet whimpered. "You, you really did it! You killed my baby." Violet looked down for a moment and gathered herself, forcing herself to look back up at her mother. "You rigged the car too didn't you?"

Nora just nodded. "Yes."

"What's wrong with you?" Emily implored. She stood up and looked to her with disgust. "How could you do that to your own daughter?"

"You'll find out real soon how hard it is to become a mother," Nora assured her. She then looked back over to Violet. "We'll see how you deal with the back talk, the sneaking out, the very pain of knowing that your little girl is a drunken whore and that's all she'll ever be. Apparently if its legal or doesn't come out of a bottle, syringe or pipe, she has no idea how to use it."

"So that's what you really think of me? A drunken whore with a drug problem?" she smugly questioned. "Well at least I'm not a selfish, murderous slut and a home wrecker."

"You should feel lucky. You had someone there to help you get rid of your problem. I had to keep mine," Nora told her.

"Nora!" Emily snapped. She then looked down to Bob who hadn't said anything to try and help, silently urging him to say something. Bob, in response, shook his head. He personally thought it would be best to just let the two get everything out at once. Until it got physical, it was best just to let them go, as long as the neighbors didn't start complaining.

Violet stood there, holding her composure as she kept her cold eyes glued to her mother. "Why don't you just say every fucking little thing on your miniscule little mind of your's?" Violet suggested through gritted teeth.

"You first. You're always so goddamn sarcastic. Why don't you try just telling me what you really think?" Nora offered.

Violet laughed. "Oh okay! Well, lets start with your wonderful gift of being able to run away from every little problem! Blame everything on everyone else! Why don't we even talk about your ability to go on lying to everyone about your entire life? The fact that you go on telling everyone about what a wonderful mother you are, hiding all of my little problems and shoving them under the rug so that you don't have to feel ashamed when ever you leave the house? The way you hide the fact that you lead a joke of a life and now you have to pay the consequences?" she yelled, tears of anger and frustration running down her now beat red face.

Violet calmed down and caught her breath. She then darkly grinned to her mother. "You holier than thou piece of shit. You wanted so bad to be able to live the life you wanted that you subjected me to everything I know now. You're so blind you can't even see that I'm only doing what you taught me. Now you're so afraid to allow others to see that you messed up, you tried to cover everything up at the expense of your family. I could get over the fact that you have problems, and I could forgive you, but you never even tried. You never once apologized, never tried to make up for anything, and you never even once recognized the fact that you were wrong. You can't even bring yourself to simply state that you screwed up," she bitterly explained before turning and leaving the room.

"That's not fair!" Nora called to her. "I didn't get my turn!"

Violet turned to her and flashed her the finger. "I think you know where you can stuff your thoughts," she said before continuing to the den.

"Get back here you little tramp! You can't make sit here and endure your bull shit little sob story without getting to hear why I'm so miserable!" Nora called, beginning to follow her.

Emily's face began to pale as she closed her eyes and sat back in her chair.

"What's wrong?" Bob quickly asked, all his attention to her.

"I don't know," Emily flatly replied.

"Come on," Bob instructed, ignoring the arguing that was still going on in the background. "Le- let's get you to the, the hospital."

Bob helped Emily to her feet and guided her to the door. Violet and Nora both stopped as the door opened and the two left. Violet suddenly felt at fault. "Dammit," she said to herself, knowing what was happening.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Tell Me a Happy Ending

Violet walked out into the living room, her eyes glued to her mother. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she softly asked.

Howard, who was still there just eating his dinner, looked up from his plate. "Maybe I should go," he announced. Standing up, he grabbed his plate and looked to Violet. "Tell Emily I hope that everything's okay," he requested as he took the plate and left.

"Will do," Violet flatly responded, keeping her eyes on Nora.

Silence fell between the two. Violet would have spoken, but she was too busy finding ways to try and negate her own guilt. She wanted to put all the blame on her mother, but her conscience wasn't allowing her to do so.

Violet finally tore her eyes off her mother, letting them fall to the chair, the one that Emily formerly occupied. That was when she spotted it, the blood. There was blood there, and there was a few drops of it on the floor where she had stood.

It reminded her of the night she lost her baby. She sat up and saw the blood soaking through her shorts out into the sheets beneath her. The feeling of utter helplessness and betrayal. The fact that she felt she should have been more leery of her mother.

"You don't even care," Violet muttered. She looked up, meeting Nora's eyes, glaring to her. "A woman walked out of here not knowing whether or not she was still going to have a baby, and you don't even care."

Nora clicked her tongue, looking through the room. "As far as I am concerned, this really has nothing to do with me," she curtly stated. "Even if I did feel some sort of sympathy, it wouldn't change anything."

Violet softly laughed, mocking herself for the sheer blindness she had over the years. "I guess it wasn't just me that you didn't care about," she said. "I've never had a mother nor have I ever had the chance of having one," she added.

As of now, she had no feelings toward Nora. No hate, no betrayal. She was numb. She realized her feelings made no difference, therefore, it was better to just not have any. It was better to just block everything out because no matter what, it wasn't going to change anything.

"What are you trying to say?" Nora questioned. "Just because I don't feel bad for something that has nothing to do with me, I'm a horrible person?" she inquired.

Violet shook her head. "No, you're a horrible person for a multitude of reasons. I promise there isn't just one," she assured her.

Violet just turned and left the apartment. She couldn't be in the same room anymore, she had to get out of there and talk to someone.

Oooooo

Scott lay flat on his back as he stared at the ceiling from his bed. In his mouth he had a joint, and next to him lay Violet.

"My mom's a bitch, so I ran," Violet explained, her emotionless eyes glued to the ceiling.

"I think you're wrong," Scott said, handing the joint over to Violet.

Violet laughed. "You suck then," she told him before taking a drag. She made sure to hold her breath a moment before slowly releasing the smoke back out into the air. "Because you know, I'm pretty damn sure I was right," she added, handing the joint back to him.

Scott turned his head to her. "No, you're better than that," he told her. "You, shouldn't have ran because you should have been busy proving a point," he told her before placing the joint in his mouth.

Violet looked to him and started laughing. "What is this? All the sudden you're Robert DeNiro and I'm Jodie Foster? You out to clean up all the scum of the earth?" she joked.

Scott removed the joint from his mouth and blew the smoked straight into her face. "You need to step back and examine yourself," he told her. "Seriously, you talk about how bad your mother is for not caring and then you go out and do the same thing? I think you're a hypocrite," he said.

Violet sat up, laughing at him. "You really think that don't you?" she questioned. At this point in time, it didn't really bother her what he thought.

Scott sat up and smiled to her, handing the joint to her. "Yes," he simply answered smirking to her, trying to fight the urge to laugh.

Violet refused the joint by holding up her hand. "I gotta go see Emily before visiting hours are over," she told him, the laughter subsiding. "I can't do to her what..." she was about to call Nora mom, but stopped herself. She couldn't bare giving her the title anymore. "What Nora did to me," she absently finished.

Violet sighed, her eyes going down to her lap. "You think she'll be all right?" she questioned. "I mean, she deserves a happy ending, you know? She and Bob boy wonder over there deserve to bring their little baby home and play house and what not," she explained, beginning to ramble.

Scott took the joint and took another quick puff. "What about your part in the ending?" he implored. "You deserve one too," he told her.

Violet offered him a smile. "Well, I guess that makes two of us then," she replied. Quickly though, she felt had to change the subject. "I should go get something for Emmy dear though," she stated, trying to think.

Scott leaned over and grabbed the ash tray off the night stand. "You wanna get her a flower? I get flowers for people I hurt," he suggested.

Violet laughed. "It's seven at night. Where the hell am I going to get a flower?" she inquired.

Scott smugly smiled. "You ever sneak into a cemetery?" he implored.

Violet nodded. "I have a few times. I was dared," she told him.

"My mom just left flowers at my grandma's grave," he told her, beginning to smirk.

oooooo

Violet walked into the hospital lobby with her stolen violet from the cemetery. There were only about fifteen minutes left of visiting hours, so some of her nerves were calmed. She couldn't stay long if she wanted to.

As she started towards the desk, she saw Bob walking down the hall and went to meet up with him. "Is she okay?" Violet immediately questioned.

Bob just stopped and looked at her. "I thought she was until the grim reaper decided to show up," he quipped.

"Funny," Violet flatly replied. She took that for a yes. If Bob was willing to joke around, then he couldn't have been that depressed. "Why aren't you with her?"

"She wanted me to get back to the apartment and make sure that you two didn't tear it up. She would rather be alone a few hours here tonight than have, have to uh stress herself out having to buy all new furniture," he explained. "Besides, she's, she's just getting to sleep."

Violet's eyes suddenly grew with concern. "Why is she staying the night?" she implored.

Bob caught on to her fear. "They just want to watch a couple things for a few hours. I was told it was nothing serious," he answered. He sighed, knowing that it may not be best for Emily to see her right now, but he had to tell Violet which room she was in. It was obvious to him that Violet came ready to apologize and he really thought it nice that she did come all this way. He also figured that Emily would appreciate it. "She's up in room two twenty-three if you wanna see her," he stated.

Violet smiled. "Thank you, I will," she told him before walking passed him to the elevator.

Bob just stood there watching her. He was more concerned for her than anything. All she wanted was for someone to care.

oooooo

Violet nervously swallowed, staring at the door. She looked down at the flower in her hand and decided to just take a deep breath and continue.

"Emily?" she called, walking into the room.

Emily, who was sitting up in bed, looked over with surprise. "What are you doing here?" she inquired.

"I hang out at hospitals when I get bored of the cemeteries. I call it following the trail backwards. That way it sounds deep rather than morbid," Violet replied. Even though her tone of voice said otherwise, she very uncomfortable. She kept her distance, nearly clinging to the wall.

Emily just smirked. "Well, aren't you gonna ask?" she questioned, already knowing why Violet was there.

Violet softly laughed. "Does the perfect child still exist?" she questioned.

"Yes," Emily answered with a smile.

"Good. I thought everything was okay when I didn't see the waterworks," Violet responded. She then looked down to her hand to see the flower. It reminded her, she had to apologize. No matter what outcome occurred, she had promised herself that she would apologize. "I uh, I have to say sorry though. You, you probably wouldn't be here if I weren't here," she explained.

Emily looked down to her lap. She had considered the idea. Violet had caused her stress. At the same time, it was during the fight with Nora. Nora was the one that stressed her out enough to get her here. She was the one that finally pushed her over the edge. "You're forgiven," she replied.

Violet softly smiled. It meant a lot to her to be forgiven. After being so used to people constantly telling her that everything was her fault and that they wished she weren't around, it was nice to hear that someone forgave her. There was something though that she had to end. "I also have to apologize for my mother," she added.

Emily looked up to her. "No you don't," she responded.

Violet instantly looked up, not knowing how to react to that.

"You shouldn't have to be responsible for your mother's actions. It should be the other way around," Emily explained to her. It was hard for her to see a girl abandoned by her mother. It took that fight though for Emily to truly see what Violet's life was like. It made her feel bad, almost protective over her. She wanted to keep her out of harm's way from this woman.

Violet finally began to approach the bed. "No," she said shaking her head. "I don't need anyone to be responsible for my actions."

Violet then held out the flower. "I also brought this," she stated.

Emily took it, smiling. "A violet from Violet," she said.

Violet shrugged. "It was what I was able to get a hold of," she informed her, hoping that she wasn't about to ask where she got it.

Emily studied the flower for a moment before setting it down on the table beside her. "Do you mind if I ask..." she began, but was cut off as Violet held up her hand.

"What you just saw was seventeen years of built up anger," she explained. "I'm fine now."

Emily just looked to her. "Come here," she instructed, motioning to the empty space beside her on the bed.

"I don't see why you think that talking about it is just going to magically make it all disappear," Violet remarked.

Emily sternly looked to her. "I want to hear it. Now talk," she firmly instructed.

Violet sat down and sighed. "Well," she began, her eyes wandering down to her lap. "For starters, I have just been slapped in the face with the fact that I grew up without parents. I might as well have been an orphan out there on the streets."

"Why didn't you run away?" Emily inquired.

Violet quickly looked to her. "Why?" she asked. Violet turned back to facing forward, her head going back down in a sort of shame. "Who runs away from the only life they've ever known?" she offered. "It's not like I knew where to go. It's not like I really ever had anyone to turn to."

Violet repositioned herself to face Emily. She needed to be able to see just how she was taking all of this. It was now that she could see the difference in her eyes. The total pity and the eagerness to help was now present, more so than she had witnessed her entire time there.

"That baby I was going to have was going to be the only person that I was ever going to have in my life. It may have been wrong to put all that pressure on a baby, but that's truly what it was going to do. All he needed to do was be there. He needed to need me at times. Just someone to be happy to see me when I walked in the door," Violet explained, her eyes beginning to water. She quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her wrist. "And she took that away from me. She took away the only person that was ever going to care."

Violet saw that Emily was getting ready to cry and nodded. "I better get going. You don't need to be upset right now," she stated.

Emily grabbed her wrist, stopping her from standing. "I don't want you going back to her," she announced.

Violet froze. That was the second offer she had gotten to stay, but this one was more unexpected. She looked to Emily and nervously shook her head. "I can take care of myself. You don't need me around. Trust me on that," she argued.

Violet felt that she had caused enough damage here. If anything else were to go wrong, she would feel guilty, and that just wasn't something that she needed. No matter what she said, she did care what happened to these people. It wasn't like it was her mom where she could just shrug it off and not care.

"Violet, you deserve to be cared for by someone who doesn't view you as a mistake they should have gotten rid of," Emily gently informed her.

Violet's entire body tensed. "You don't know that," she coldly replied, looking Emily directly in the eyes.

Emily sighed and let go of her wrist. "I do," she firmly stated.

Violet just nodded before turning and leaving. She had to get out of there. Enough damage had been done today. Standing there and making her feel worse was not her current objective, as a matter of fact, it was the very thing that she was trying to avoid.

Emily just sat there, sighing as she watched Violet leave the room. She wanted to argue and tell her that she didn't need this, but she couldn't. It was a lost cause. Violet was too stubborn to consider her other options and it hurt her.

Oooooo

The next day, Emily sat out on the balcony, just staring. She had the apartment to herself for now. Bob had offered to stay home from work, but she wanted to be by herself. She needed the time to think, reflect on what happened. It may have scared her, but it also made her that much more attached to her baby, that much more protective over it.

There was one other person in the apartment, but they were sleeping and she really didn't count Nora as a person anyways. Violet would have been there, but she hadn't spoken to Nora since she had left the apartment to go see Scott. Violet ended up staying the night at Howard's. Granted, it was almost one in the after noon, about two hours since Emily had returned home. Violet just wanted to make sure that she wouldn't run into Nora.

In all honesty, Emily was glad that she had stopped talking to Nora. She didn't need her in her life. Violet needed to move on, find someone that was good for her. The only thing she disliked was that she got stuck with Nora.

"Hello," chimed an all too cheery voice.

"Speaking of the devil," Emily mumbled as she stiffened in her chair. "What do you want?" she curtly asked.

Nora walked around Emily and leaned her back against the wall, her elbows casually propped up on the ledge. "Have you seen Violet?" she inquired.

Emily looked to her with confusion. "Why?" she bitterly asked. She really didn't care about the reasoning, it wasn't like she was going to tell Nora where she went.

Nora shrugged. "She's my daughter," she responded.

Emily sat up, laughing at the very audacity of this woman. "You really think of yourself as her mother don't you?" she asked, not sure what to make of that.

"What would you call me?" Nora curiously questioned, her brow raised.

"A long list of words, none of which are mother," Emily quipped. She was testy right now, and Nora was the last person she wanted to be talking to. There was also this air about Nora that was starting to bother her. It felt like this woman thought that she knew more about parenting, that, in her own smug little way, she was telling her that she would end up being the same way towards her baby. Naturally, she greatly resented this.

Nora smirked, nodding. "Yes, I know," she replied all too casually. "Goody two shoes is at it again, thinking she knows so much more about everything than anyone else does. Even the things that she couldn't possibly know anything about," she stated with a venomous undertone.

Emily was about to argue with her, but reminded herself that she had to stay calm. This woman wasn't worth risking the life of her unborn child. "I don't think Violet should go with you, she deserves better," she bluntly informed her.

Nora stood up, carefully examining Emily with suspicion. "Are you saying you want her?" she questioned.

"I'm saying that she deserves a parent," Emily said. For some reason, it was right after that sentence came from her mouth that she felt guilty over not believing Violet at first. "If that means me, then I'll take it."

Nora shrugged. "Always the poor sap who has no idea what's really going that tends to volunteer for everything. What they always fail to notice is how that there's a reason that no one else wants to volunteer," she sneered.

Emily glared to her. "You know, Violet wouldn't be so difficult if she actually had a mother," she remarked.

Nora laughed, completely dismissing Emily's comment. "I would like to hear you say that thirteen years from now," she responded.

Emily sighed, crossing her arms. She had had quite enough of this. It was obvious to her that there was no way to get through to this woman. "You know you're way to the door. I want you on the other side of it within the next hour," she ordered, trying her hardest to remain calm. "And if you're not, I'm calling the cops and telling them you broke in and I'll have plenty of people to back me up on that," she said, remaining stoic as she faced forward, adverting her eyes from the other woman. She couldn't look at her if she wanted to keep from getting too upset.

Nora sighed. "All right," she complied. This wasn't an argument she felt worthy of a fight. Besides, she had other places that she could go to. "Just remember everything you've said to me," she warned as she started back inside.


End file.
